


Paracosm

by weethreequarter



Series: How to Build a Family [3]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Fantastic Four, Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Adoption, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cheeseburgers, Developing Relationship, Fake Marriage, Father-Daughter Relationship, Father-Son Relationship, First Kiss, First Time, Getting Back Together, Getting Together, Happy Ending, Kid Fic, M/M, Mind Control, Parenthood, Past Bucky Barnes/Natasha Romanov, Surrogacy, background Pepper Potts/Bruce Banner, background Sif/Loki, implied Natasha Romanov/Matt Murdock - Freeform, implied child neglect, past Peter Park/Michelle Jones
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-09
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2020-04-23 09:33:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 23,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19148335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/weethreequarter/pseuds/weethreequarter
Summary: Three years after the Sokovia Accords, Tony wakes up married to Natasha, without the arc reactor, and working as a high school science teacher. Sue wakes up the daughter of a doctor named Storm, and two years younger than when she went to bed. Bucky wakes up in a mental hospital, where he seems to be the only one with a grasp of what’s real.Meanwhile, Johnny and Peter experiment, in espionage, in heroism, and in each other (Or, stealing a baby turns out to be the best first date ever).





	1. Breathe

**Author's Note:**

> So here we go again.
> 
> Poor Sue ended up taking a back seat in part two, because Spideytorch took over. So she has a much bigger part in this one, even if it doesn't seem like it in this chapter.

****Johnny burrowed his face into Michelle’s hair, breathing in the scent of her shampoo and holding her tight. Maybe if he just held on to her and never let go, nothing would change, nobody would go anywhere, and then everything would be fine (if he ignored the fact that Sue returned to MIT a week ago, and Ned left yesterday to go to Ohio). She clung to the collar of his shirt. Johnny pressed a kiss to her temple.

“I’m gonna miss you so much,” he mumbled.

Michelle nodded against his shoulder, and he knew she was trying not to cry. Johnny held her tighter. They’d been each other’s everything for so long, he didn’t know how he was going to deal with her being on the other side of the world. The past three years were hard enough to deal with, since he moved to the Avengers Compound and Michelle remained in Queens, and that was only thirty minutes away. How was he going to deal with her being seventeen hours away? 

She was his Rhodey.

Finally they disentangled, Michelle’s eyes looking suspiciously glassy. Johnny knew better than to call her out on it. That would only lead to her punching him in the balls, and that was _not_ an experience he wanted to repeat again. Especially in public. Johnny stepped back to allow Peter to hug Michelle, taking the opportunity to gather himself.

“You are so lucky, I’m so jealous,” he heard Peter say. “You’re going to have so much fun. Just don’t have too much fun without us.”

“Okay,” Michelle whispered. Her voice dropped as she spoke into Peter’s ear. Then she pulled back, stubbornly refusing to cry, and gathered her luggage. 

“Fly safe,” Johnny said. “That’s what people say, right?”

“Yeah,” Peter nodded. “And call us when you get to Wakanda.”

“God, you two are worse than my dad and stepmom,” Michelle wrinkled her nose. “You’re such an old married couple.”

Johnny and Peter exchanged a glance and shrugged. There were worse things she could’ve called him. And did call them. Regularly. 

“See you,” she mumbled, waving to them and turning towards the departures gate.

“Bye MJ,” Johnny called, fighting the urge to run after her and scoop her up and never let her go. 

They stood there until she disappeared from sight. Johnny swallowed. Then Peter wrapped his arm around Johnny’s shoulders.

“Come on,” he murmured. “Let’s go.” 

Johnny nodded, unwilling to trust his voice. He swung his own arm over Peter’s shoulders, leaning into his side, and they headed back towards the parking lot, where Johnny’s TT was waiting. At least he still had Peter. He didn’t know what he’d do if Peter was gone too. 

The drive back to the compound was silent. Peter was obviously wrapped up in his own thoughts by the way he stared out the window but didn’t see anything outside (Johnny knew him well enough after three years to know when Peter was lost in his own head). And Johnny’s mind was stuck on repeat, of Michelle leaving, and saying goodbye to Ned yesterday, and Sue heading back to MIT a week ago. And underneath it all, as always, was Steve leaving. Johnny was so furiously angry that Steve left like that, without a word or a note of goodbye, as if Johnny and Sue meant less than nothing to him. Built on top of his existing irrational anger towards Steve for failing to rescue them from the lab, it was a lot of anger. A lot. It was heavy and… honestly? Exhausting. 

He was tired.

He was, Johnny realised. He was tired of carrying this anger towards Steve. It would’ve been impossible for Steve to rescue them, because he was still frozen in a block of ice when they were born. And when he left, everything had happened so fast, that Steve didn’t have a chance to say goodbye. Yes, it hurt. Yes, it sucked. But he was tired of being angry. He didn’t want to be angry anymore.

“I’m done,” he declared.

Peter jumped, drawing his gaze away from the window to turn towards Johnny and raise an eyebrow.

“Huh?”

“I’m done,” Johnny repeated. “I’m done being angry at Steve, at my dad. It sucks, I know it sucks, but being angry isn’t going to change that. It isn’t going to make him come back, or change what happened. So I’m done. I’m moving on. Cause if I don’t when he does come back, I’m just gonna waste time again, like I did before, never getting to know him because I’m too busy being angry.”

“That sounds like a great plan,” Peter smiled, and was it crazy to think he actually looked proud of Johnny? Except for his pops, Peter was the only person Johnny wanted to make proud. 

“Thanks. Do you wanna go to Jersey tomorrow?”

“Ew, why?” Peter wrinkled his nose, with the disdain of someone who’d spent their entire life in New York.

“Because Camp Lehigh’s in Jersey, and I wanna, I feel like I want to, to go somewhere. Of significance to my dad,” Johnny tried to explained. “I know he’s from Brooklyn, but I don’t have an address. And Europe’s too far when we have college on Monday. So, Camp Lehigh is the best option.”

“Fine, but you owe me a cheeseburger,” Peter sniffed. He shuddered, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like _Jersey_. 

“Thanks Pete.” Since he was still driving, Johnny couldn’t really look at him, not like he wanted to (the fact that he always wanted to look at Peter was irrelevant). “I’m really glad you’re here. And I’m really glad you’re my friend.”

When Peter didn’t reply, Johnny risked a glance to the passenger seat. Peter was watching him pensively.

“Me too,” he finally replied.

X

Tony breathed.

For a while he’d doubted his ability to keep breathing. To stand here now, the hanger filled with the happy sounds of a party, filled him with warmth. Okay, there was a little nostalgia too, faint memories of the final party in the tower and everything that came after pressing at the back of his mind, but it wasn’t enough to overwhelm how happy he was.

He took a sip from his glass and scanned the room.

Naturally, his eyes fell first to his son. Most days it felt like he’d blinked and Johnny had gone from the six year old he rescued to the nineteen year old in front of him today, about to start his first year of college and with actual friends. One of said friends currently had an arm around Johnny’s neck, giving him a noogie despite Johnny’s loud objections, before sprinting through the crowd, Johnny on his heels. Peter was a good kid. Tony was glad they were close. He’d always feared Johnny would never allow himself to grow close to anyone due to his trauma. Seeing him now made him proud. Or prouder.

Of course, Sue’s absence was like the loss of a limb. He’d just begun to get used to her being gone when she returned for the summer. Now she was gone again, and it felt like she’d taken part of him with her. Knowing she was only up the road at MIT didn’t help. Knowing Johnny was staying at home to go to Columbia did.

Pulling his eyes away from his son, he found Rhodey telling a War Machine story for laughs as usual, to a gaggle of adoring fans. Tony grinned into his glass. He loved that man, he really did. No one had stuck by him as long as Rhodey. 

He did a double take when he saw Happy and May Parker talking, because holy shit, were they flirting? That was going to take some serious brain bleach to unsee. He shook his head, turning instead to another couple. One that had denied for so long that there was anything between them. Tony was glad to see all pretences gone firmly out of the window these days, as Loki and Sif danced. The care with which Loki held her, and the gentle expression his eyes took whenever Sif’s attention was elsewhere was weird in the beginning. By now, he was used to it. Now, Tony was simply grateful that two broken souls had found their peace together. 

Leaving his spot, Tony dodged his way through the crowd until he reached the sleepy couple by the bar.

“Ah, and there is the expression of new parenthood,” Tony grinned. “I remember it well.”

“You never had a baby,” Pepper pointed out from her position tucked into her husband’s side. Her husband whose chin was resting on her head and looked ready to fall asleep there.

“No, but I had two very traumatised children out in the world for the first time,” Tony replied, “Who had never experienced a thunderstorm. Do you know how many thunderstorms there were that summer? A lot. Let me tell you. I didn’t sleep for months. I still have scars from Johnny’s fingernails. Cheer up. Only eighteen more years to go,” he smirked. “Wait until she starts dating.”

Bruce groaned, burying his face into Pepper’s hair and Tony chuckled. For all their whining, he knew that Bruce and Pepper adored being parents to little Avery And that they were brilliant - of sleep deprived - parents to that much longed for little girl, as he’d always known they would be. It was why he’d offered to be a donor for them in the first place. That, and he loved them both dearly. 

“I think we’re going to call it a night,” Pepper said, rubbing Bruce’s chest. “I wanna check on her anyway.”

Tony smiled. yeah, he understood. The twins were nineteen, and he would still fly to Boston to check on Sue every night if it wasn’t for the fact that she had a boyfriend and he very decidedly did not want to know any more than he had to.

“Thanks for the party, Tony,” Pepper continued.

“No problem,” he replied.

“Yeah,” Bruce nodded hazily. “’s was good.”

Tony chuckled.

“Get some sleep, big guy.”

He watched them head upstairs then turned back to the party, and let the warmth and the enjoyment wash over him.

And he breathed.

X

A month before she was due to leave for Wakanda, Michelle sat down opposite Peter in Five Guys and announced, “I don’t wanna do long distance.”

“Um, what?” he replied, garbled around a mouthful of cheeseburger. Luckily, they’d been together long enough - and friends before that - that she could understand what he was saying and dodge the spray of cheeseburger (a skill no doubt developed from being best friends with Johnny Storm, because Johnny was incapable of remembering not to speak with his mouth full).

“I don’t wanna do long distance,” MJ repeated. “I like you, Parker, and I like what we have. But it’s not enough to try and keep a relationship alive through a phone line and seven thousand miles.”

Oh.

This was a break up.

Right, because in a month Michelle was leaving for Wakanda - and if anyone else had won that scholarship, he would’ve been jealous as hell - and he was staying in New York to go to ESU. 

Peter chewed on his burger, considering her words. MJ was right: they liked each other, a lot, and they definitely cared for each other. And their relationship was good, it was fun, and it was safe. But it wasn’t love. Sure, he loved her, but he wasn’t _in_ love with her.

“You’re right,” he agreed.

Michelle rolled her eyes.

“I’m always right,” she declared. Peter threw a piece of lettuce at her. “We’re not going to be weird about this, right?” she asked. “I don’t wanna be weird about this.”

“Have you met me?” Peter raised an eyebrow. “I’m always weird.”

“You know what I mean. We’re not going to say, _oh yeah, we’ll be friends_ , and then avoid each other for six months.”

“I mean, you are going to Wakanda, so…”

She tossed the lettuce back at him.

“Yeah, but we’re still going to text and tag each other in memes, and for the next month we’re still going to hang out. We’re just not going to kiss or have sex anymore.”

“I can do that,” Peter nodded, and he really could he realised. Perhaps he should’ve thought about this before, he mused. Perhaps that should’ve been a sign that they were never meant to last in a romantic relationship.

“And you’re still going to let me steal your fries,” she added, filching one from his plate as she spoke, daring him to stop her.

“You’ve spent too long being friends with Johnny,” he retorted, but he moved the plate closer to her anyway.

“That’s the other thing,” Michelle said. “Johnny.”

“What about him?”

It was going to be hard for Johnny to watch Michelle leave for Wakanda, Peter knew that. She’d been his only friend for so long, until Johnny reached out to Peter in the days after uncle Ben’s death. Johnny’d become one of his best friends since then. Not like Ned, because Ned was Ned, and would always be his best friend. But in many ways, he and Johnny were just as close, if not closer, than he and Ned were. That was probably due to the fact that Johnny was the only one who knew Peter was Spider-man for so long - had in fact, given him the name Spider-man, even before Peter donned the suit for the first time.

It also probably had something to do with the giant crush Peter had been sporting on Johnny for years now. 

(It was fine. He’d long ago contented himself to the fact that Johnny wasn’t interested, and just wanted Johnny to find someone who made him happy, the way MJ made Peter happy)

“You should ask him out,” MJ said.

Peter made the mistake of taking a drink right before she spoke, and promptly snorted soda up his nose.

“What?” he choked, once he was able to breathe again.

“You should ask Johnny out.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Because of your massive boner for him.”

“That’s… That doesn’t mean anything,” he protested. “Everyone has a boner for Johnny. Haven’t you?”

“Ew, no,” she wrinkled her nose. “He’s like my brother. I mean, he’s like a brother, but he’s not like my brothers, because my brothers are dicks.”

“Ned said Johnny was hot when we were in Italy this summer,” Peter pointed out. And it was true. Johnny had looked very hot in Italy. But then, Johnny looked hot all the time.

“Yeah, he said he was hot. He doesn’t have a boner for him like you.”

“You’re missing the point,” Peter argued. “Even if I do have a boner for Johnny, I’m not going to ask him out because he’s not interested in me.”

Michelle snorted.

“Yes, he is.”

Wait, what?

“Did he say something?”

“He doesn’t have to. I know him.”

Oh. Right. 

“I don’t think you know him as well as you think you do,” Peter shrugged. “Can we change the subject?”

They spent the rest of the afternoon discussing _Brooklyn Nine Nine_ , until Michelle had to go pick up her brothers. As he rode the subway back to Queens, Peter pulled out his phone and messaged Johnny: _I just had the weirdest break up ever._

Because obviously he was going to text Johnny. Just not about the whole _MJ thinks he has a thing for Peter_ thing, because that was clearly wrong. 

Instantly, his phone pinged with a reply: _You and MJ broke up?_ 😮

_Yeah. It’s cool. She’s going to Wakanda next month, and we don’t wanna do long distance. We hung out after._

_Is that why it’s weird?_

_No. She tried to set me up._

_With who?_

_Nobody. I’m not interested. But that’s weird, right? Trying to set up your ex as soon as you break up._

_It’s MJ._

_Good point._

They traded texts back and forth for the rest of the journey, until Johnny had to go have dinner with his pops and sister. Peter plugged in his headphones for the walk home.

It was crazy, wasn’t it, the idea of him asking Johnny out? They were friends. Okay, yeah, he had more than friendly feeling towards Johnny, and they’d always been close in a way he and Ned weren’t, but that was because of the Spider-man secret. Wasn’t it? 

And yeah, they hugged and touched a lot more than what was considered normal for two friends, especially two male friends, but that was because society sucked. And Johnny touched everyone, including MJ and Ned, that way. Tony was the same, so it was just something he’d picked him from his pops. It in no way signified closer than friendship feelings.

Except…

Except Johnny had skipped school to take Peter to the Statue of Liberty when uncle Ben died, despite the fact they barely knew each other. Except when Steve left, it was Peter Johnny went to, not MJ, his best friend since forever. Except they were the only ones that had a special place in the Statue of Liberty. Peter didn’t do that with Ned, or with MJ. Neither did Johnny.

Peter jabbed the button for his floor with more force than was necessary and slumped against the elevator wall with a sigh.

It was ridiculous. He was being ridiculous.

He glanced at his phone, and its wallpaper of them at graduation; Johnny and Peter in the foreground, their arms around each other’s shoulders, while MJ looped her arms around Peter’s neck from behind and Ned leaning over Johnny’s shoulder, all four of them pulling funny faces. Except Johnny wasn’t looking at the camera, he was grinning at Peter.

Totally ridiculous.

Just like today, at the airport, when Michelle whispered in his ear, “Ask him out, dumbass.” Sure, he could just ask Johnny out. As if that was an option. 

Ridiculous.

X

“Hey Parker,” Rhodey greeted Peter as he joined him at the bar. He liked the Spider-kid. When he wasn’t calling things like _Alien_ or _Star Wars_ really old. Those days, Rhodey would happily launch him into space, if it wasn’t for the fact that doing so would make his nephew sad.

“Hi Colonel Rhodes sir,” Peter grinned, practically standing at attention.

“Parker, you don’t have to call me Colonel anymore,” Rhodey rolled his eyes. 

“Yes sir.”

Rhodey levelled him with a look. 

“Sorry.”

“You know, you and Johnny make a cute couple. And I’m not just saying that because I have a lot of money riding on it,” he added.

Peter coughed and spluttered on his drink, spraying his shoes with soda. 

“What is it with people saying things like that every time I take a drink?” he gasped. “What? I mean. We just, what? Money? Huh?”

“Is there a sentence somewhere in that jumble, kid?”

“We’re not a couple!” Peter exclaimed. “We’re friends. Okay, maybe I have slightly more than just friendly feelings towards him, but Johnny, he doesn’t, we’re not, we’re friends.”

Rhodey watched all this with amusement. Not since the Meredith McCall incident of 1995, had he been blessed with the sight of someone flailing so impressively in an attempt to deny obvious feelings for someone (what Rhodey wouldn’t give to go back and film Tony). 

“You’re kidding, right?” he asked eventually.

“Huh?” Peter replied, apparently sacrificing any attempt at eloquence altogether. Rhodey decided to take pity and put the poor kid out of his misery (and no, it was nothing to do with the money he stood to win from the pool). 

“Johnny has feelings for you,” he explained. “Parker, he’s in love with you.”

“What?” Peter scanned the room until he found Johnny. “No, he’s not…”

He didn’t sound sure. In fact, he sounded hopeful.

“He is. He told me,” Rhodey confirmed. 

Peter gaped like a fish, staring across the hanger at Johnny. Then, without another word, he pushed through the crowd towards him.

Rhodey shook his head.

Idiots.

X

_He’s in love with you…_

_He’s in love with you…_

Johnny wasn’t… Because is he was… And Peter was… Then…

“I need to talk to you,” he blurted out. Faintly, he was aware he’d just interrupted someone, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. Even if aunt May would kick his ass if she heard him. 

“Okay,” Johnny agreed readily, breaking off his conversation. “What’s up?”

_He’s in love with you…_

“Not here, um.” Peter turned and walked away, and Johnny followed. Of course he did. He followed Peter everywhere.

_He’s in love with you…_

Peter moved on autopilot. He didn’t even realise he was heading for Johnny’s room until they were all but there (they had the same security clearance, so the doors opened easily).

“What’s up?” Johnny asked again, closing the bedroom door behind him.

_He’s in love with you…_

Peter felt hysterical laughter threatening to bubble up, and clamped down on it hard. This was crazy, he was crazy. What the hell was he doing?

“I need to try something,” he blurted out. “I was talking to Rhodes, and he said something, and it’s crazy, but I, I need to try something. Okay?”

“Okay,” Johnny nodded, and he looked so freaking earnest, because he always was when he was talking to Peter, wasn’t he? Peter never saw Johnny’s media persona directed his way, even on Johnny’s worst days. 

“Okay,” Peter echoed.

He took a deep breath.

He hadn’t been this nervous since the first time he told MJ that she looked pretty.

Later, he wished he could say that he was smooth and cool, but in reality he basically launched himself at Johnny and, only by grace of God, their lips met. There was too much teeth, and their noses were squashed together uncomfortably, but it was still the best kiss he’d ever had because it was _Johnny_. The world was spinning and Peter thought he’d spontaneously combust if Rhodey was wrong. 

But then Johnny moaned against his lips, and, wow, Peter could _feel_ it where their chests were pressed together, and that was the hottest thing he’d ever experienced. 

They separated just enough to realign their mouthes and, oh, suddenly there was less teeth and their noses were out of the way and it felt so good that Peter gasped.

And then Johnny’s tongue was in his mouth and Peter forgot how to breathe. 

Even he needed to breathe, so reluctantly he pulled away. 

“You’re in love with me?” he blurted out.

“Yeah,” Johnny gasped. “Completely, one hundred percent, crazy in love with you.”

And Peter couldn’t think of anything to say except, “Good.”

Johnny fisted his hand in Peter’s shirt, and then they were kissing again and, okay, Johnny was hard against his hip. That was okay; Peter wasn’t far behind. 

For a moment, he forgot himself and _pushed_ Johnny back, until his shoulders collided with the door. Peter pulled back to apologise, but before he could, Johnny moaned like something straight out of Peter’s fantasies.

“That is super hot,” Johnny groaned. “Full disclosure: I have jerked off a lot to the idea of you holding me down. Like, a _lot_ a lot.”

“I think you just killed my brain.”

Taking advantage of the space between them, Johnny yanked his t-shirt over his head, throwing it away before falling back against the door. Peter glanced at Johnny for confirmation; when Johnny nodded, Peter placed his palms against Johnny’s shoulders, then pushed, pinning him in place. Johnny’s head fell back as he moaned and Peter ran his teeth over his exposed neck. 

“Okay, totally hot,” Johnny panted. “And I totally wanna try sex against the wall with you holding me but, uh, first time, I think we should, you know, bed.”

“Yeah,” Peter nodded. He removed his hands from Johnny’s shoulders, allowing him to nudge Peter backwards until his knees hit the bed and they went sprawling across the ridiculously large mattress. Before Johnny could get his bearings, Peter flipped them over so he was on top.

“We are wearing way too much clothes for this,” Johnny informed him. “Fuck,” he groaned as Peter began sucking behind his ear. “Clothes. Pete. Clothes off.”

Peter sat back and grinned at him. This was happening, this was actually happening. Johnny loved him, and they were making out and in bed together and, yes, they were going to have sex. Finally. He unbuttoned his shirt just enough to yank it over his head, dropping it over the edge off the bed. Then he felt Johnny’s hands on his belt, and Peter had to lean down and kiss him again until he felt dizzy with it, the way he only usually felt dizzy when he went flying.

“Full disclosure,” he murmured against Johnny’s lips, “I’m in love with you too, dummy.”

“I wanna blow you,” Johnny declared.

“Way to ruin the moment,” Peter rolled his eyes. Although, he wasn’t sure he expected anything less from Johnny. 

“That’s not a no.”

Peter rolled his eyes again and flipped them so Johnny was on top. Johnny laughed and kissed him once more, before he began mouthing his way down Peter’s chest, leaving him feeling like he was on fire.

Later - much, much later - they lay in a tangled, sweaty heap, Peter’s head on Johnny’s shoulder as he ran his fingers over Johnny’s wrists.

“You might be bruised tomorrow,” he murmured.

“Don’t care,” Johnny replied. He kissed the top of Peter’s head. “Latent super soldier serum. I’ll heal. I am looking forward to lots of kinky spider strength sex in the future. Like, a _lot_ a lot. It is the hottest thing I have ever experienced.”

“Yeah?” Peter lifted his head to grin at him.

“Yeah.”

Peter lifted Johnny’s wrist to his mouth, placing a featherlight kiss against the pulse point, before Johnny’s fingers threaded through his hair and pulled him down for a kiss.

X

“Okay, who had the Kung Po King Prawn?” Rhodey called.

“Me,” May replied, waving her hands in the air. Tony chuckled. May was a lot drunker than she’d like to admit, and he knew that she’d have one hell of a hangover tomorrow. Rhodey leaned over the coffee table to hand her the carton. “Thank you,” May grinned, before blowing Rhodey a kiss.

“You are so drunk,” Tony giggled.

“Shut up, I am not,” May declared. She attempted to punch Tony’s shoulder and missed completely. Tony dissolved into a fit of giggles.

“Loki, you touch my moo shu pork, I’ll kick your ass,” he gasped.

“I’d like to see you try, Stark,” Loki smirked.

“Relax, Tones, Loki has the Singapore noodles,” Rhodey said. He passed said noodles to Loki, then, “Here’s your moo shu pork, idiot.”

“I love you, platypus,” Tony grinned.

“Aww,” May cooed, and that sent Tony into a fresh fit of giggles.

“Sif, your shrimp fried rice, fried bean sprouts, bamboo shoots and water chestnuts, and prawn toast.”

“Thank you Colonel,” Sif smiled.

“Post party takeout!” Tony called.

May cheered.

“I love you,” Tony declared, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

“You’re an asshole,” May grinned.

Tony snorted into his moo shu pork.

“Hey, where’s my kid?” he frowned. “Johnny doesn’t usually miss out on food.”

“Last time I saw him, he was headed upstairs with Peter,” Rhodey replied around a mouthful of massaman curry.

“Hey, do we think they finally got together?”

“You are way too invested in this considering he’s your son,” Rhodey shook his head.

“I have three hundred dollars on this!’ Tony exclaimed. “By the way, who wins if they get together tonight?”

“I do,” Rhodey grinned.

“Then he’s paying for Chinese,” May decided.

“Yes!” Tony exclaimed.

They hi-fived.

“Tonight was fun,” May announced.

“Really? You had fun? I never would’ve guessed,” Tony teased.

“Shut up.”

“This was indeed an enjoyable evening,” Sif agreed. “Thank you Tony.”

“Yes, Stark, I agree,” Loki raised his glass in a toast.

“All thanks to you guys,” Tony shrugged. “You’re the best. Seriously, I am so glad you are my friends. And I have had just enough to drink, that I am comfortable telling you that. But, seriously, I love you guys.”

“Man, you are drunk,” Rhodey shook his head.

“And I love you more than anybody snuggle bear,” Tony finished.

“You are such an idiot,” Rhodey sighed. “I don’t know why I put up with you.”

“You love me,” Tony whispered.

“Nope. That ain’t it.”

“Humans,” Loki snickered.

“Hey! Don’t put down humans,” May snapped and punched him in the knee.

Loki’s eyes widened.

“Ouch.”

X

It wasn’t the first time Johnny had woken up with someone else in his bed. Hell, it wasn’t even the first time he’d woken up with Peter in his bed. But it was the first time he’d woken up with Peter naked in his bed, and been equally naked himself. 

It was kind of awesome, he decided, slowly running his finger down Peter’s spine and tracing every bump.

“That tickles,” Peter mumbled. “You’re heavy.”

“You’re heavy,” Johnny retorted - which was true, Peter was a lot heavier than he looked - but he slipped off of Peter’s back. Peter pushed himself up onto one elbow, peering down at Johnny through one half-open eyelid, with a frankly incredible case of bedhead. Johnny grinned. He couldn’t resist; he snagged his cell phone from the cabinet and took a photo. “That’s my new wallpaper,” he informed Peter.

“What time is it?” Peter yawned.

“Seven thirty three.”

That was the problem with going to bed so ridiculously early; it resulted in waking at stupid o clock, a time that Johnny would never normal accept with such good grace. Admittedly, the early night was a result of some really fantastic sex, which was the only reason why he had accepted it.

Peter nodded, before leaning down to kiss Johnny once, twice, three times.

Oh yeah. All kinds of awesome.

“If we get up now, we can make a good start for Lehigh,” Johnny pointed out.

“Urgh,” Peter sighed, flopping onto his back. “Jersey.”

“Come on,” Johnny poked him in the side. “Up, up, up.”

“Has anyone ever told you you’re an annoying little shit?”

“Yes. You. Daily. Come on, shower.”

“You go first,” Peter yawned. He frowned at Johnny. “What are you waiting for?”

“I kinda meant both of us. Showering. Together,” Johnny explained.

“Oh,” Peter nodded. Then his brain caught up with his mouth and his eyes widened. “ _Oh_. Yes, I am very much down for that.”

Johnny grinned.

It was official: shower sex with Peter was the best way to start the day.

X

Tony rolled out of bed, reaching desperately for a glass of water to combat his seriously nasty case of dry mouth.He wrinkled his nose. Stale Chinese and alcohol was _not_ a pleasant taste to wake up to. He gulped down the water. 

Stretching with a yawn, Tony winced as his spine clicked. Damn. He was old. And if anyone ever asked, he’d deny ever thinking it. Throwing on a hoodie to fight off the morning - a quick glance at the clock confirmed that, yes, it was still morning for another fifty two minutes - he made his way towards the common area. Through the glass walls, he could already see the bots working on clearing up the party debris from the hanger. 

Tony didn’t really expect to see anyone else up when he arrived in the kitchen. He was the one who drank the least, after all, and he had the sense - and experience - to quit the alcohol an hour before going to bed to switch to water. To find someone else up and in the kitchen was unexpected, but perhaps _up_ wasn’t quite the right term for the way May Parker was slumped over the counter.

“Morning sunshine,” Tony grinned.

“I hate you,” she mumbled, without raising her head.

“If I give you aspirin will you hate me less?” he asked. 

“Gimme the aspirin, asshole,” May groaned. She sat up and glared at him from bloodshot eyes.

“What’s it worth?” he wondered.

“I won’t punch you in the balls.”

Tony chuckled. And because he was a _nice_ person and _not_ an asshole, he retrieved a glass of water and a bottle of aspirin, sliding them across the counter to May.

“Grazie mille,” she mumbled.

“Prego.”

“Oh my God, I feel like shit,” May exclaimed. “I hate you.”

“I was the one who told you to stop drinking,” Tony pointed out. “And you told me, and I quote, to go hug a cactus. Wait. You didn’t do shots with Loki again, did you? Oh honey. I thought you learned after last time.”

“Don’t judge me,” May grumbled.

“I am. I’m judging. So hard. Were you really flirting with Happy last night?”

To his surprise, May blushed and bit her lip, and Tony had to blink a couple dozen times to be sure he was actually seeing this, May Parker, the woman who usually threatened to violently eviscerate him whenever they hung out was blushing like a school girl over Happy Hogan. 

“He’s sweet,” she replied. “Oh shut up, he’s cute. And who else am I going to date? You?”

“Why not me?”

“Oh, you mean apart from the fact you’re still hopelessly in love with Steve Rogers?” May pointed out. 

“Do you want me to make you pancakes with lots of greasy bacon or not?”

“If you do that, I will love you forever.”

“Don’t be nice to me,” Tony frowned. “It freaks me out.”

“Good,” May grinned.

“I hate you, why are you here?” Tony snapped.

“You love me.”

“No, I don’t,” he lied. “You’re the worst.”

“I can’t be, you’re the worst,” she shot back. “Now make me pancakes.”

Tony stuck out his tongue, but turned to gather the ingredients necessary to make his famous hangover pancakes. Because despite what he said, he really did love May Parker. Platonically. As his second best female friend after Pepper.

“Okay. There are four batches of hangover pancakes keeping warm in the oven. With bacon,” Tony explained. “Tell Rhodey, and make sure he gets in before the Asgardians or he has to fend for himself. The blueberry waffles are for Pepper and Bruce, and anyone else who touches them loses suit upgrades for a month, understand?”

“Got it,” May mumbled around a mouthful of pancake.

“Gross,” he grimaced. “I gotta shower, then I’m heading out.”

“Where?” she frowned.

“I have a meeting,” he shrugged. Then, ducking her half-hearted attempts to push him off, he snuck a kiss onto her temple. “FRIDAY said the boys already headed out, so if you need a ride home… call Happy,” he grinned, and darting out of the door to avoid the fork she threw at him. 

He showered quickly, aware of the time, before dressing. Once he stepped outside, the suit folded around him without a world. God, Tony loved nanotech.

“Alright, FRIDAY. Full stealth,” he ordered. “All trackers offline, and that includes you.”

“Yes boss,” FRIDAY replied. At least she no longer sounded insulted, like she did the first time he went full stealth. He really had to stop programming AIs with such difficult personalities.

The flight was short, and Tony landed in the alley behind the hotel, where the suit disappeared back into the arc reactor. Flicking up his hood and pulling on a pair of sunglasses, he left the alley for the hotel, pausing at the reception to ask which room belonged to Brett Hendricks. With directions to room 616, Tony forewent the elevator and it’s cameras for the stairs. He couldn’t avoid cameras entirely - he was Tony Stark - but he could minimise time on them. Plus, there was never any guarantee he would get an elevator to himself, and the last thing he needed was Joe Public asking questions and then running their mouth about the time they met Tony Stark in an elevator. 

Room 616 stood two along from the stairwell. Tony rapped his knuckles against the door; seconds later it opened, as if someone had been waiting by the door for him.

“Hi,” Tony grinned, slipping inside.

“Hey,” Steve Rogers smiled, before stepping forward and kissing him.

 


	2. Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which something changes.

****It began in Syria.

X

He was tracking chitauri weapons. Because somehow, even four years down the line, someone had managed to get their hands on a pile of them, and were selling them on the Black Market to a variety of different bad guys. One of which Steve had traced to a terrorist sect in Homs. 

Which was how he ended up here: pinned down behind what once was the wall of a house, and was now a roughly four foot pile of rubble, and wishing desperately for back up. Or at least his shield. And to top it all off, he’d taken a bullet to the shoulder. 

“Talk about bad odds, Rogers,” he muttered, trying to ignore the pain.

He exhaled, preparing himself, gathering his energy and his courage for the dash across to the next building-come-rubble pile a few feet away. A few very open, very unprotected feet. 

Steve tried not to think about it.

“Alright,” he told himself. “Let’s do this.”

Steve pulled his feet up underneath himself, crouching while he counted down from three internally. Then he jumped up, ready to run.

Only to be yanked back down by the body throwing itself over the rubble.

“Jesus, Rogers, are trying to get your head blown off?”

Steve stared in disbelief. Because he could swear it was Tony crouching next to him. Except that was ridiculous, because Tony couldn’t be here. He certainly shouldn’t be, and certainly not wearing only a black and orange, what was that? Some sort of fancy tracksuit? And sunglasses. That was what clinched it for Steve as definitely Tony and not some imposter. 

“Tony?”

“Stay down until I say,” Tony ordered, as if they’d seen each other just this morning over breakfast, rather than a year ago when Steve walked out of the Avengers and Tony’s life forever. He pulled off his sunglasses and sat them on top of the rubble, facing back towards their assailants. “They’re gonna need to reload soon. When they do, we run, okay? How’s your arm?”

“Hurts like a bitch,” Steve retorted. 

“Don’t bitch to me,” Tony snapped. “I’m the one saving your ass.”

“I don’t need-“

“Go,” Tony yelled, grabbing Steve’s hand and yanking him to his feet with strength that shouldn’t be surprising, but still was. They dashed across the open ground and ducked into an alley that was still standing. “Where’s your quinjet?” Tony asked. “And I hope you have a fully stocked first aid kit?”

“Two blocks that way,” Steve replied. “Are you going to arrest me?”

“Since I’m not supposed to be here, no. I mean, I could. If you want. But then I’d have to arrest myself too.”

“That sounds like a lot of paperwork,” Steve remarked and Tony smiled. 

They dodged insurgents until they reached the warehouse where Steve had stashed his jet. All the while, he wondered why Tony was here. What was his game? And he hated that he thought Tony had an ulterior motive when, for so briefly, they could’ve been so much more than friends.

In the jet, Tony moved automatically for the first aid kit and began unpacking it. 

“Strip,” he ordered. 

Steve didn’t move. When Tony noticed him still standing there, he rolled his eyes. 

“Christ Steve, I’ve had my dick in your ass. Seeing your chest is nothing. Strip, before that wound closes over the bullet again.”

“How do you know about that?” Steve frowned. That happened about three months ago. There was no way for Tony to know about that. Well, that wasn’t true, but all of the ways he could know about it were all kinds of worrying. 

“I have my ways,” Tony shrugged. 

Since no further explanation was forthcoming, Steve pulled off his jacket and sat down in front of Tony.

“This might hurt,” Tony murmured, picking up the antibacterial fluid. 

“Liar. This will definitely hurt,” Steve retorted.

“Touche” Tony smiled.

Steve sucked in a breath through his teeth. It stung like a bitch, but Tony was quick and efficient, with years of practise as both the Avengers’ unofficial medic and a father behind him. He cleaned the wound then took less time than expected to grasp the bullet with the tweezers and pull it out. 

“Do you want this one for for the trophy cabinet?” he asked. Steve glared at him, and Tony tossed the bullet away. “You’re welcome,” he added. 

“How did you know where I was?” Steve asked, holding the gauze to his shoulder.

“Skills,” Tony shrugged evasively. He picked up a bandage and began wrapping Steve’s shoulder. “Hold still.”

“I don’t know what you’re doing,” Steve shook his head. “Jesus, Tony.”

“Right now, I’m saving your ass,” Tony replied. “You were outnumbered and outgunned. You needed backup. And when you have the jet, your team can’t back you up. What were you doing there?”

“Someone’s telling chitauri weapons,” Steve shrugged and winced. 

Tony paused.

“Bastard had international buyers,” he muttered.

“What?”

“About six months ago,” Tony sighed. “Spider-man brought down Adrian Toomes, alias the Vulture. Among other things, he was selling weapons made from chitauri tech. He must’ve had an international buyer.”

“Will Toomes talk?”

“Probably,” Tony replied. “If you threatened his daughter. People do a lot to protect their kids.”

And there was the elephant in the room. Steve longed to ask about Johnny and Sue. To know how they were. To know where they were. To know if they hated him.

“They would’ve gone with you,” Tony murmured, startling Steve out of his reverie. “If you’d only said goodbye,” he clarified. “They probably would’ve gone with you. They don’t agree with the Accords. But you abandoned them. You didn’t say goodbye.”

“They’re better off with you,” Steve replied.

“They were better with us both,” Tony corrected, his hands stilling at he finished tying the bandage. 

Steve looked up into Tony’s face to find him staring back. The air seemed to crackle, as though Thor stood in the vicinity. But it was just them.

In one fluid motion, Steve stood and wrapped his good arm around Tony’s waist and pressed their mouthes together.

He expected Tony to push him off.

He never expected Tony to pull him closer, to lick his way into Steve’s mouth. Steve groaned. It had been a year, but with his memory, he could still see every moment of their few stolen moments together. Using only his uninjured arm, he hoisted Tony up, legs wrapping around Steve’s waist and crashed them back into the quinjet’s wall.

Tony’s hand was like a vice in his hair as he let his head fall back. Steve kissed his way down the column of Tony’s neck, breathing in the still-familiar mix of cologne and motor oil and gunpowder. When Steve bit below his jaw, Tony’s hand clenched around his bicep, sending sharp pain running down his arm. 

Steve hissed.

“Sorry,” Tony panted. 

They stared into the other’s eyes.

“How did you find me?” Steve asked quietly.

But Tony didn’t answer. So Steve carefully set him back on his feet then turned away to wrestle on his jacket. Tony didn’t try to help him, clearly recognising it would be rejected. 

“Take care of that shoulder,” Tony ordered. “And use your damn team Steve. That’s why you have them.”

Steve heard the quinjet door open then close again, and when he turned round again, Tony was gone.

X

It continued in Lebanon.

X

Tony was trembling. 

Even from across the room, Steve could see it. And not just his hands, but full over, entire body shaking like a leaf in a hurricane. The only thing he couldn’t see was why. 

Sure, it was a close call. Sure, if Tony hadn’t turned up, Steve would probably be nothing more than a stain on the side of a wall now. But Tony had turned up, and he’d knocked Steve out of the way of the chitauri grenade launcher at the last minute - and they seriously needed to get a lead on who was selling these things - and they’d even managed to herd a group of civilians to safety too. So it was fine.

But Tony was trembling, and despite everything that had happened between them, Steve felt the urge to cross the room and pull him into his arms. It was an urge he _firmly_ ignored. Tony might’ve saved his ass twice now since everything fell apart, but that didn’t mean everything was just forgiven. 

“How did you know I was here?” Steve asked instead. He’d never actually received a satisfactory answer last time and, yeah, he was grateful, but he was also suspicious. If Tony knew where he was, what was to stop him from telling Ross. And if Ross knew, then Steve was looking at jail time for operating outside of the Avengers.

“You could’ve died, Steve,” Tony replied, his voice hoarse. 

“I didn’t.”

“You could’ve though. You could’ve died thinking that I hated you.”

“What?”

“Shit,” Tony hissed. 

He pinched the bridge of his nose. Steve had no idea what was happening. He kept quiet, waiting for Tony to talk, hoping he would reveal what was going on. When Tony finally looked at him, his eyes were red and glassy, and that was so not what Steve was expecting. 

“I set you up,” Tony blurted out, and instantly Steve tensed, ready to run. “Not today!” Tony added quickly. “I mean, before, when you left. I set you up. I wanted you to leave. No, I didn’t, _I_ didn’t want you to leave. But I needed you to.”

“What are you talking about?” Steve demanded.

So Tony told him everything. About Ross and the Accords. About Helmut Zemo, who lost family in Sokovia and who Ross used to hack into the tower and trigger the Winter Soldier. About the woman in the store, who lost a son in Sokovia, who blamed Tony. About Ross and the video. About the threat to the twins’ lives. About Tony and Bucky’s plan. 

All of it. 

And Steve stared.

Part of him wanted to demand proof - and he knew that if it was true, Tony would have proof, because it was Tony after all - but another, bigger part just… knew. He knew Tony was telling the truth. Everything that felt wrong in that horrible, hellish week fell into place, the missing pieces filled, and Steve knew.

He knew.

“You never planned on telling me,” Steve said - and it wasn’t a question, because he knew Tony and he knew Bucky, and it was obvious that they intended on keeping him out of the loop. “What changed your mind?”

“You could’ve died,” Tony repeated. “You could’ve died, and didn’t know the truth. I need… I needed you to know the truth. That I might be pissed as hell sometimes, but I will never hate you. I just… I needed you to know.” 

Tony stepped towards the window.

“How did you know where I was?” Steve called.

Tony hesitated. He glanced over his shoulder.

“Bucky called me.”

X

It changed in Singapore.

X

“You know, Steve, I don’t think the third date rule applies when the first two weren’t actually dates,” Tony grinned. He loomed over Steve, leaning on one elbow, and looked far too smug. 

For once, Steve couldn’t bring himself to care.

He reached up and wound his hand into Tony’s hair, pulling him down to kiss him again. Tony hummed appreciatively, resting his hand on Steve’s bare chest. Steve trailed his free hand down the side of Tony’s torso, smiling into the kiss when he felt Tony shiver.

“Yeah, yeah. You’re very pleased with yourself, I know,” Tony muttered, but his pupils were blown and his voice breathy. So yeah, Steve was smug too. 

He lost track of how long they stared into each other’s faces, their hands roaming aimlessly as they soaked in the fact that they were _here_ and they were _together_. Steve smiled when Tony tugged gently on his beard. Then Tony folded his arms on Steve’s chest, resting his chin on his arms, so they were practically nose to nose. If he twisted his head, Steve could place a kiss on Tony’s wrist.

So he did. 

“Are we doing this?” he whispered, and he hated how vulnerable he sounded. 

“Yeah,” Tony nodded. He caught Steve’s hand and kissed his hand down his palm, from the tip of his middle finger to his wrist. “It won’t be easy,” he warned. “No one can know. Not even Bucky. And when we’re apart, we don’t have contact. Even if I gave you a phone as untraceable as Buck’s, if we were in constant contact, eventually someone would be able to trace it.”

“Then we arrange the next time we meet before we leave,” Steve said. “If something comes up, if we can’t make it, we have to live with it. We can’t get angry.”

“We have to trust each other,” Tony agreed. “Do you trust me?”

And Steve heard the hesitation, the fear, the doubt in the question. 

“Always.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me rambling on tumblr here: [weethreequarter](https://weethreequarter.tumblr.com)  
> 


	3. Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Tony wakes up married to Natasha, and Sue wakes up the daughter of a man named Storm.

****_There was someone in their room._

_He kicked off the covers, while Steve launched himself towards the intruder. His hand was gauntleted by the suit; he raised it ready to fire and-_

_BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP._

Tony jerked awake with a gasp.

“Steve.”

He reached behind, searching for Steve, but only found empty sheets. Then he realised something was off.

He wasn’t in the hotel.

He was… Well, he didn’t know where he was. It wasn’t a hotel, that was for sure. It was a bedroom, so that was something. A nice bedroom, at that. One Tony would’ve picked for himself. Except he definitely did not pick this bedroom. He’d never seen this bedroom before in his life.

He sat up slowly. The alarm was still blaring, he realised, and slapped it off, leaving him in blessed silence. Or almost silence. Outside, he could hear the odd car - but nowhere near as much traffic as the city held - and, Jesus, was that birdsong?

“What the hell?”

Glancing down, Tony confirmed he was in pyjamas, when he’d definitely still been naked when he went to sleep. Of course, when he went to sleep, he was in a hotel in Pittsburgh with Steve beside him, so there was that. 

It took a moment for Tony to realise what was missing, but when he did, he instantly began to panic.

The arc reactor was gone.

He scrabbled at his t-shirt, yanking it off, the bottom dropping out of his stomach at the thought of seeing that gaping hole in his chest again, his throat closing, he couldn’t breathe and-

Huh.

Not only was the arc reactor gone, but, well, everything was. There were no scars, no reactor, no casing. Nothing. Just his chest, the way it hadn’t been for eight years.

“What the actual hell?”

He forewent putting his shirt back on, padding out of the bedroom and finding the stairs. Which was when the scent of coffee hit him. Tony sniffed. It smelled like Natasha’s coffee, sending a pang of longing through him. He missed her. Following the stairs and the coffee scent, Tony found the kitchen. And standing by the percolator was-

“Natasha?” he exclaimed.

The redhead turned and, yes, it was Natasha. In a chemise and robe that left little to the imagination and Tony unsure where to look. What was most confusing, however, was the fact that rather than threatening to eviscerate him, Natasha smiled at him. No, it was more than just smiling. It was the _kind_ of smile. And that was totally a thing, so the sarcastic voice in his head - that sounded suspiciously like Rhodey - could shut the hell up, Tony decided. The smile was soft and gentle and - dare he say, er, think it - _loving_.

“Hey baby,” she greeted and that was it, Tony was in the Twilight Zone. But then, because his life wasn’t crazy enough as it is, she stepped forward and kissed him. This was not a first kiss; this was a kiss that spoke of familiarity and affection, with a spark of heat that promptly fried Tony’s brain. 

When she pulled back, Natasha was smiling again. She ran her hands down his - still arc reactor free - chest and bit her lip.

“You know, as much as I would love to,” she continued, her voice low and sultry, her finger flicking over his nipple and- holy shit - that was wrong, “You are going to be late.”

“Late?” he echoed. 

Natasha chuckled.

“Of course you forgot,” she grinned. “First day of term? You have to go back to work today.”

“Work. Right,” Tony nodded, as his brain scrambled to catch up. “Teaching,” he added hopefully, because first day of term implied teacher, didn’t it? 

“You get dressed, and I’ll make you breakfast,” Natasha continued. Her hands wouldn’t stop wandering, dammit. Then she leaned in, her entire body pressed against his, trailing her finger down his chest. “And when you get home tonight...” 

That whimper was in his mind right? A glint of gold caught his eye; glancing towards his hand on Natasha’s shoulder, Tony saw a wedding ring sitting on his ring finger. A quick glance confirmed a matching one on Natasha’s hand.

“Wow,” was all he could say.

Natasha grinned. She gave him another kiss, then turned back towards the coffee machine. 

Tony made what he hoped didn’t look like a panicked retreat back upstairs. He closed the bedroom door, and leaned against it. He dragged his hands down his face. He blinked. Did what he think just happened actually just happen? He could still feel Natasha’s body pressed against him, feel her breath in his ear, smell her perfume. He pinched his thigh viciously.

Nothing.

“Bucky’s going to kill me.”

X

Sue groaned and reached out for her phone, only to smack her hand straight into a wall. She hissed, biting back a curse.

Wait. What?

She opened her eyes and, where yesterday there was the rest of her room, there was a wall. A lilac wall. Her dorm room was white. Sue stared at the wall, as if it could give her the answers (her pops was an Avenger; stranger things had happened in her life), until she realised her alarm was still ringing. Which meant it had to be somewhere. Rolling over, Sue found herself staring at an unfamiliar bedroom. She snatched up the phone - the phone, because it wasn’t _her_ phone - from the bedside table and turned off her alarm. She sat up slowly and stared. 

There were, she realised, some familiar items in the room. The photo of her at Coney Island that Liz took two years ago. The poster of science puns she’d bought for her dorm room. The series of books she’d collected since she was fifteen. But other than that, she had no idea where she was, or what was going on.

Sue jumped when someone rapped on the door.

“Sue?” an unfamiliar male voice called. “Are you awake?”

“Yes,” she replied. It could go either way, he could come in no matter what she replied, depending on what this man wanted. Sue quickly scrambled to her feet, to give her a better chance of fighting him if she had to.

“Breakfast is almost ready. You don’t want to be late on your first day,” the voice called, then she heard footsteps walking away, and she relaxed a little.

What was the last thing she remembered? She remembered waking up, she remembered scrolling through Instagram and texting Liz while eating breakfast, and she remembered getting dressed and leaving for class. In fact, the last thing she remembered was handing over cash to the barista for her iced chai tea latte.

Did the barista put something in her latte? She seemed like a nice girl, Sue had chatted to her a few times over the past week, but that didn’t mean anything. Especially when you were Tony Stark’s daughter. Sue was fairly certain that if she had been drugged, she would feel different. Funny. Fuzzy. Like she did after getting her wisdom teeth removed last year and Johnny made fun of her by calling her a walker.

 _Johnny_.

Sue snatched up the phone. It unlocked with her passcode, and the home screen had a photo of her and two girls that she did not recognise. A chill ran through her. Opening contacts, she scrolled through but neither Johnny nor her pops were in there. In fact, none of the Avengers were.

“Okay,” she whispered, breathing slowly. “Okay. I can do this.”

She found clothes in the closet in her size, some of which she remembered buying, and the rest that she’d never seen before in her life. She dressed jeans and a t-shirt that she knew were hers, before tying her hair back in a ponytail. Then she sat down cross-legged in front of her backpack. That, at least, was familiar. She dug through what appeared to be high school textbooks from her senior year until she found her wallet. Flicking it open, the photo of her and and Johnny and pops at Disneyworld had been replaced with a photo of Sue, at least four years younger, with a woman she didn’t recognise. Pulling out her ID, Sue stared at it.

She blinked.

Then blinked again.

_Storm, Susan V_

“What the hell?”

_D.O.B: 07/18/2001_

Two years after she was born.

“What the _hell_?”

“Sue. Breakfast!” the voice from before called.

“Coming,” she replied.

With the phone in one hand - because she could unlock it and call the cops if nothing else - and her backpack on her shoulder - because it was hers, and it was full of textbooks, which would be useful if she smacked someone with it - Sue made her way downstairs. The owner of the voice was a few years younger than pops, with blond hair, and was currently serving up pancakes. He smiled at her as she entered the kitchen.

“There you are,” he said. “I thought you were going to be late. I made you your favourite for your first day.”

“Right,” Sue nodded. She should recognise him, right? Even if she’d been drugged when he took her, surely some part of her subconscious would recognise him and warn her, wouldn’t it? “First day of what?”

“Of senior year,” he replied patiently. “Sue, I know this is hard, but-“

“Who are you?” she interrupted. “Why am I here?”

“That isn’t funny, Susan,” he said. “That isn’t funny at all. Look, I know you’re angry. And I know you can’t see it now, but this is the best for us. I know you miss your mom, and I am so sorry for that, I really am. But it’s two years. It’s time we move on. And this, a new start, it’s the best way to do it. Eat up.”

“I’m not hungry,” she replied. For all she knew, the food could have more drugs in them. 

“Oh. Alright. I’ll drop you off on the way to the hospital then. Just let me get my keys.”

“Sure,” Sue nodded.

Sure, she’d go to school. Because then she was away from whoever this was, call her pops, and get some help. 

X

Tony climbed into the car and banged his head against the steering wheel.

“What is my life?” he declared to the empty vehicle.

He’d taken advantage of the solitude to make a thorough, if quick, investigation of the bedroom and attached ensuite. He found a wedding photo on the dresser, with Natasha by his side in a stunning white gown, both of them gazing at each other adoringly. He found a half empty box of condoms in his bedside cabinet, and in the bottom dresser drawer were several sex toys. But most disturbing of all, half of his closet had been taken over with what he could only describe as teacher clothes.

“My clothes, like my boyfriend, are from the nineteen forties,” he muttered.

Steve.

Tony froze. He’d been so preoccupied with his brain exploding over the fact that he was somehow married to Natasha - and apparently had a very healthy and active sex life together, which, ew - that he’d forgotten about Steve. Where was he in this nightmare situation?

Natasha had kissed him again before he left, pulling him in with his tie to give him a kiss that was far too filthy to be appropriate for a man about to be faced with a room full of teenagers.

Then she pulled back just enough to give him a sultry smile and murmur, “Have a good day, Dr Stark,” while trailing a red painted fingernail down the seam of his shirt and Tony’s brain short circuited.

“Okay, bye,” he blurted out, rushing out of the door before she could say a thing.

“I’m an idiot,” he sighed, sitting upright and adjusting his glasses - because apparently he wore glasses now. “A dead idiot.”

He had to leave, he knew, before Natasha noticed him still sitting there and came out to ask him what he was doing. Or worse. In the corner of the windscreen, he noticed a sticker. Peering at it, Tony realised it was a parking permit. Pleasant Hill High School.

“Alright, that’s a start,” he muttered. Pushing the key into the ignition, he added, “Please have GPS. Please have GPS. Yay!”

The GPS led him to the school, and the parking permit told him which parking space to use, but none of that gave him any idea how to find his classroom. Or what he taught. Or why the hell he was here, because he was not a high school teacher married to Natasha Romanoff and living in Pleasant Hill. He was Tony Stark, genius, billionaire, philanthropist, father of Sue and Johnny and boyfriend of Steve, Avenger and living outside New York. 

“Uh…” he stared up at the school. “Alright. Right… Okie dokie. Huh.”

“Morning Dr Stark!” a girl called.

“Hi,” Tony replied. Then an idea struck him. “Hey, uh, wait a minute!”

The girl waited for him to catch up. She grinned brightly at him, bouncing on the balls of her feet. 

“What’s up Dr Stark?”

“Can I borrow your timetable?” Tony asked. “I, uh, I need to check something.”

“Sure,” the girl shrugged, and Tony let out a silent sigh of relief. She handed over the timetable with another grin. 

Her name was Riri Williams, he discovered, and she had Physics with Dr Stark this afternoon in Room 108.

“Thanks Riri,” he smiled, handing back her schedule. “I’ll see you this afternoon.”

“No problem, Dr Stark.”

X

After the world’s most awkward car ride, Sue jumped out of Dr Storm’s car - whose name she’d discovered after swiping a bill from the pile by the fruit bowl before they left - and hurried towards the school. Once she was out of sight, Sue sat down on a bench and began rifling through her backpack. She found a school planner with a schedule stapled to the inside cover, which informed her that she had home room in Room 106.

“What the hell is going on?” she whispered. 

But no answer came, except for the bell. Sue sat for a minute, watching the other students heading towards home room. Then with a sigh, she shoved the timetable back into her backpack. 

Following the signs, she found room 106 in the science corridor for home room. As soon as the bell rang again, she left the room. She couldn’t deal with this, none of this made sense, all she wanted was-

Pops.

Standing in the doorway of a classroom two doors down was her pops. Wearing glasses and looking as confused as Sue felt. She couldn’t breathe with relief. And then he turned and his eyes fell on her. Sue grinned. Her pops’ eyes widened.

Sue elbowed her way through the crowd and they ducked into the classroom. Her pops closed the door then Sue threw herself into his arms.

“Pops!”

“Susie," he breathed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me rambling on tumblr here: [weethreequarter](https://weethreequarter.tumblr.com)  
> 


	4. Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which truths are told, relationships are discussed, and Peter is a show off.

****Tony felt Sue’s shoulders tremble under his hands. He could hear her begin to sob, and tightened his hold on her.

“Hey, sweetheart, it’s okay,” he murmured. He pressed a kiss into her soft blonde hair. “You’re okay, honey.”

“Pops,” she choked. “What’s going on? I woke up in some guy’s house, and he was talking to me like he was my father. And, and he was talking about my mom, and I, I…”

“It’s okay,” Tony soothed. 

“Where are we?”

“I don’t know” Tony admitted. “But it’s okay, I’m here. I’ll protect you. I promise.” He pulled back just enough to cup her face in his hands, wiping away her tears with his thumbs. “You okay?”

Sue gulped, then nodded.

“Scared, but I’m okay.”

“Good,” Tony kissed her temple. “Come on, sit down.” 

He guided her over to one of the desks in the front row, then pulled over a second chair for himself and instantly retook her hands in his own. 

“What do you remember?”

“I got coffee, and then I think I went back to my dorm,” Sue replied. “Next thing I know, I’m waking up here, and I have some guy calling himself my father and I’m two years younger! According to my ID. I don’t understand what happened.” 

“You and me both,” Tony sighed. “And I was having such a nice morning. I mean, I get to see my boyfriend, like, once a month - _if_ I’m lucky - and then this… whatever it is ruins it.” 

He exhaled.

“Wait, you have a boyfriend?” Sue frowned.

Oh shit.

“Uh…” Tony paused. “Uh, okay. I, uh, I wasn’t planning on telling you guys this, for many reasons, but the truth is your dad and I are together.”

“What?” Sue exclaimed. “How? He, he left. He hurt you!”

“No! Well, yes, he did, but it’s not that simple,” Tony explained. He took a deep breath. “Three years ago, Ross approached me about the Accords, and I blew him off. So he… he made me listen. That night, at the tower, with Bucky. That was all Ross. He wanted me to lead the way for the other Avengers to sign, and he threatened you and your brother to make sure I did what he wanted.”

“That doesn’t explain why-“

“I know,” Tony interrupted. “Just… Let me finish?” When Sue nodded, he continued, “I knew I had to sign, to protect you. I also knew that your dad was right, and that the Accords were flawed. So Bucky and I made a plan. They would leave, and I would stay. So they could protect the world when I couldn’t. Ross actually sent me the footage of my parents a few days before. We used it as a reason for the fight. It was a set-up. It was always a set up.”

“And dad knew this?” Sue asked, and her voice sounded so small, so like the little girl he found in a lab thirteen years ago, that Tony felt a part of his heart break. 

“No, sweetheart, he didn’t know any of it until two years ago, when I saved his life. We started seeing each other after that. Nobody knows, not even Bucky. It was safer that way.” 

“So you’ve been together for two years?”

“Yeah,” Tony nodded. He felt his throat close up, the familiar old fear that his children would walk away from him in disgust resurfacing with a vengeance. “I’m so sorry I lied to you. I just wanted to protect you. And if you can’t forgive me, then, that’s my fault, my problem.” 

Sue stared down at her hands. Tony waited, giving her all the time she needed. Besides, it wasn’t like he was going anywhere. Hell, he still didn’t even know where he was.

“I spent two years hating him,” she whispered. “When I should’ve, I should’ve been hating-“

“Me,” Tony finished. 

His heart sank.

“No,” Sue insisted. “I should’ve been hating Ross.”

Tony looked up in surprise.

“He did this,” Sue continued. “He’s the one who tore my family apart, and I will never forgive him.”

“What about me?” Tony asked. “You think you can forgive your old man?”

“For what? Keeping me out of another lab? It’s not your fault, pops. He forced your hand. I forgive you. Both of you. It just might take me a little while to get over it.”

Tony smiled, cupping the back of her head.

“Take as long as you need honey.” 

“What do we do now?” Sue asked.

“I have no idea,” he sighed. “I don’t know what’s going on, where we are. Did I tell you when I woke up here, I’m married to Nat? It’s freaky, like kissing your sister.” He shuddered. “But the fact is, until we know what we’re up against, I think the best we can do is play the game. Gather intel, stay in contact. Nat clearly doesn’t know anything. I don’t know if anyone else is here. We need to keep a lookout, keep our ears to the ground.”

Sue nodded.

“And apart from at night, If I don’t hear from you every hour, I’m blowing this place to hell, got it?”

“Got it.” 

Tony tapped Sue on each shoulder, as if knighting her.

“Alright kid, you’re an Avenger now.”

X

“Ew, Jersey,” Peter grumbled as Johnny’s TT sped out of the Holland Tunnel. He tried and failed to glare at his boyfriend, but in his defence it was hard to be mad at someone who just gave you a mind-melting blowjob.

Johnny rolled his eyes, reaching over the console to smush his hand in Peter’s face, until Peter licked his palm.

“You are gross,” Johnny declared.

“Fifteen minutes ago, you had your mouth on my dick,” Peter retorted.

“Totally different,” Johnny insisted. ‘And I don’t get this whole New York versus New Jersey thing. What’s the big deal?”

“The big deal?” Peter echoed. “The big deal? It’s Jersey. It sucks.”

“What? As opposed to New York, with the crime and the urine smell, and did I mention the crime?”

“You don’t get it, because you’re not a true New Yorker,” Peter sniffed.

“Oh God,” Johnny groaned. “And get your feet off the dashboard.” His eyes widened in horror. “Oh man, I turned into my dad.”

“Well, you already look like him,” Peter shrugged. He dropped his feet to the floor, lest he send Johnny into an even bigger freak out than the one he was currently experiencing. 

“Please say you’re not dating me because I look like my dad.”

“Ew, no. Gross. Wait, have people done that?”

“Yeah,” Johnny grimaced.

“Ew,” Peter shuddered. That was all kinds of wrong. On so many different levels.

“Imagine what it’s like for me, knowing that when you were with somebody, they were imagining your dad was-“

“Ew! No, no, no. Shut up,” Peter cried. “I promise I have never had a crush on your dad.”

“Good.”

“But I may have had a crush on your pops,” he admitted.

“What?” Johnny yelped. “For real?”

“What? He’s smart and he’s funny and… hot,” Peter shrugged. He wasn’t ashamed to admit - in the privacy of his own head where no one could hear - that it was Tony Stark who had unknowingly helped twelve year old Peter figure out that he liked boys just as much as girls. Which, yeah, became awkward when he befriended Johnny and actually met Tony. 

“That is so gross,” Johnny declared.

“I was a kid,” Peter argued. “I’m over it now, obviously.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, because I love you, dumbass.”

“Well, that’s okay then,” Johnny decided. He reached across, fisting his hand in Peter’s shirt to pull him close enough for Johnny to kiss while driving. “Love you too,” he murmured.

“Why else would I agree to go to Jersey for you?” Peter teased. He pressed a kiss to Johnny’s cheek, breathing in the smell of his body spray. “Eyes on the road idiot.”

“Yes sir.”

X

Much to his surprise, Tony found that he actually kind of liked being a teacher. The material was easy of course, and on the most part, blindingly boring. Which was why, for his students who weren’t at exam level, he’d taken one look at the lesson plan and declared, “Yeah, we’re not doing that,” and made up his own experiments on the spot. And he couldn’t deny the rush of pride her felt when he overheard some of the pupils whispering “That was awesome,” between themselves as they left when the lesson ended.

 _Don’t waste it_ , Yinsen’s voice echoed in his head for the first time in years. Perhaps, Tony wondered, being a teacher wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world if he ever gave up being a superhero. 

He and Sue checked in with each other via text throughout the day, and arranged to meet during lunch. Tony made a quick detour by the cafeteria for a sandwich before he went to meet her, and was leaving the line when he walked into someone.

“Sorry,” he apologised, but then any other words died on his lips.

Steve.

“No problem,” Steve smiled before walking away.

But Tony was frozen in place, staring after him and trying very hard not to fall apart. 

Because when Steve looked at him, there was no recognition in his eyes.

X

Sue picked at her fries as she waited for her pops. They’d agreed to meet in the school grounds, out of sight of the buildings. Because a student and a teacher meeting up out of class was bound to raise questions. She looked up when she heard footsteps approach, smiling when she spotted Tony.

“Hey pops.” Then she noticed his expression and frowned, “What’s wrong?”

“I, uh, I just walked into your dad,” Tony exhaled. “Literally.”

Sue’s heart jumped.

“Dad’s here?”

She hated how hopeful she sounded. Just because she’d decided to forgive him, did not mean she was going to get over it like that. But she was scared, and alone, and she wanted her dad. Both her dads.

But Tony was already shaking his head.

“He didn’t recognise me.”

Oh.

“Are you okay?” she asked. She had no idea how serious this thing between her dads was, but from Tony’s expression, she was beginning to suspect it was a lot more serious than she’d first believed.

“I have a new appreciation for how he must’ve felt when Bucky turned up in DC four years ago,” Tony gave a wry smile. 

Before he finished speaking, an idea struck Sue. Juggling her fries in one hand, she pulled her phone from her jeans with the other, quickly going online to find the school’s website.

“Here he is, Steve Rogers, art department,” she read. “So, you and I are here and remember everything, and dad and Natasha are here and remember nothing. Maybe if they remembered, we could fix this together?”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” Tony nodded.

“You said you’re married to Nat, right?”

“Yeah,” he shuddered.

“Then you need to work on getting her memories back,” Sue instructed. “And I’ll work on dad.”

“How?”

“I’m going to transfer into his art class,” she explained, an idea already forming in her mind. “And I’m going to show him the real world.”

X

Johnny pulled the car to a stop in front of the gates, the signs on the chainlink fence declaring it private property of the US Army, and warning trespassers to keep out. He killed the engine, and they sat in silence.

“So this is where your dad became Captain America?” Peter said eventually.

“No, that was in Brooklyn,” Johnny replied. “This is where he trained. Then a few years ago, he and Natasha blew part of it up.” After a pause, he continued, “He told me this story once, and that’s amazing, cause I didn’t really listen. Which, now that I think about it, really sucks. But he told me this story, from when he was training, and they were on this run. The super soldier candidates. And dad had asthma, and many, many other things, and he was way behind. So they’re halfway through the run, and the drill sergeant or whatever points to this flagpole, and he tells them that if they can get the flag down from the pole, they don’t have to finish the run. And dad watches these guys all fall over themselves trying to climb a pole. Which is impossible.”

“I’ve done it.”

“Impossible for normal people. And then dad walks up. And he just, he takes the pin out of the bottom of the flagpole, so it just falls over. Just like that. And everybody’s staring at him. And he just picks up the flag, hands it to the drill sergeant, and climbs into the bag of the jeep.” He smiled. “That’s such a dick move. I wish I’d got to know him better.”

“There’s still time,” Peter said. 

“Yeah. I just have no idea how contact him.”

Peter poked him in the side.

“You’re a genius, you’ll figure it out.” They shared a smile. “Wanna go find the flagpole?” Peter asked.

“God, yes!”

Johnny jumped out of the car. He took a run up and jumped onto the fence, scrambling upwards until he reached the top. He cursed when he was caught by the wire at the top, before finally negotiating his way over and jumping down. With a grin, he turned to Peter and spread him arms.

“Pretty impressive, huh?”

Peter simply raised an eyebrow. Then he walked up to the gate, wrapped one hand around the padlock and yanked.

The padlock instantly snapped in his hand.

Johnny scowled.

“Show off.”

Peter smiled sweetly.

“Takes one to know one.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me rambling on tumblr here: [weethreequarter](https://weethreequarter.tumblr.com)  
> 


	5. Illusion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Bucky knows, Sue draws, and sweatpants are mandatory.

****“Well this sucks,” Bucky declared to the empty cell.

The padded walls didn’t reply. Which he didn’t really expect, considering they were firstly walls, and secondly not real. Whoever crafted this illusion was good, like Wanda levels of good, but nothing was good enough to fool the blocker she and Shuri had planted in his mind to ensure no one could ever trick him into believing something that wasn’t real. 

“Yo, anybody out there?” he yelled, watching the two-way mirror for some sign that someone was watching him.

Just because he knew it wasn’t real, and that the real him was still asleep in the rogue Avengers’ current hideout, didn’t mean that he knew what was going on. And he’d quite like to know why someone had him in a straitjacket. 

He waited, just long enough that he began to suspect no one was there, but then the door opened and a familiar, albeit now heavily scarred, face stepped inside.

“Aw, shit. Of course it’s you,” Bucky grunted.

“I missed your pretty face too, Barnes,” Rumlow replied.

“Speaking of pretty faces… Now where the fuck am I?”

“Where you belong, Barnes,” Rumlow grinned. 

“Yeah, very enigmatic, but I was hoping for a little more than that.”

“We’ve been through this Barnes, every day since you were admitted. This is a psychiatric facility, designed for people like you.”

“What do you mean, people like me?” he frowned.

“People who are sick. You’re sick, Barnes. Schizophrenia, paranoid delusions, it’s not healthy.”

“What the fuck are you talking about, Rumlow? Did they put your brain in the blender too?”

“See, this is what I’m talking about,” Rumlow said, his voice laced with faux concern, and betrayed by the glint in his eyes. “All those delusions, believing you were, what? A spy? An assassin? That there’s some evil organisation trying to rule the world? And your best friend, the super soldier. The hero.”

“Steve,” Bucky murmured. 

“Steve Rogers is not a super soldier. He is not a hero. He’s an art teacher. And you? You’re just a sick man who needs help and protection from his own mind,” Rumlow finished.

“No, I’m not,” Bucky replied. Rumlow didn’t know about the blocker. He didn’t know that Bucky knew this was an illusion. “And Steve? He’s gonna kick your ass.”

Rumlow shook his head.

“Looks like we’re gonna have to increase your meds again. You know, it would help you so much if you’d just accept the truth.”

“Go fuck yourself,” Bucky smiled sweetly.

Before Rumlow could reply, the door opened, and a man Bucky didn’t know stuck his head into the room.

“Brock,” he called, his accent hard around the name. Bucky frowned. He watched Rumlow barney contain his irritation at the interruption, throwing Bucky a glower before joining the newcomer at the door. They lowered their voices, but Bucky could still hear perfectly - as fact that Rumlow really should’ve known, it was just sad really, seeing the good ones end up so pathetic like this. “It’s Stark,” the newcomer told Rumlow, and Bucky’s ears pricked up. “He remembers.”

“What? How?” Rumlow hissed.

“I don’t know,” the newcomer replied. “She can’t explain it.”

“Little shit,” Rumlow growled.

“Don’t worry, I have a plan to discredit Stark, make sure no one listens to him.” The newcomer’s eyes flickered to Bucky. “And him?”

Rumlow smirked.

“Don’t worry about him. I know how to break him.”

The newcomer nodded, then left.

“I’m gonna go get your meds,” Rumlow told Bucky. “You’ll see. In time.”

“I’m gonna carve out your intestines with a teaspoon,” Bucky replied pleasantly. “And if you’re lucky, I’ll kill you before I do.” 

Then Rumlow was gone, leaving Bucky alone with the padded walls and his thoughts. Now that he didn’t have to put on a show, Bucky allowed himself to dwell on what he’d overheard. From the sounds of things, Tony was here too. It was so damn frustrating. Bucky knew his cell phone, the one Tony gave him, was sitting on the table by his pillow. He knew all he had to do was wake up and grab it, but he couldn’t. 

“Well, shit,” he declared.

The walls still didn’t reply.

X

Sue couldn’t remember the last time she stepped into an art classroom. 

Despite the fact she’d drawn from an early age, even using it as a way of expressing things she couldn’t put into words with her therapist as a child, she’d never studied it at school. 

Until now.

When she eventually met Steve, he taught her a little, refining her techniques. It became their thing. Then he left, and she hadn’t picked up a pencil or a brush in three years. And now, for the first time, she would not only draw, but talk to her father for the first time since he left.

And he didn’t even know who she was.

 _There was no way this could go wrong_ , a voice that sounded suspiciously like Johnny drawled in her head. It was irritating, but at least it helped combat how much she missed him. 

“Good afternoon,” Steve greeted the class as soon as everyone was seated. “I’m Mr Rogers. Yes, I know, let’s get all of the laughter out of the way now,” he added with a resigned smile as several students snickered. “Alright, welcome to the art department. I recognise a few of you from previous years, but the rest are new faces.”

Steve scanned the class, and Sue was surprised at how much it hurt when he looked at her and didn’t recognise her at all, despite the fact that she’d done everything she could to pretend he didn’t exist for the past three years. 

“We’re going to explore a variety of different media and study all genres of art. The first part of the course, we’re going to master the different skills an artist needs. For example, employing the elements and principles of art, drawing from observation, and working in interdisciplinary modes. Wow, that sounds boring when I say it like that, doesn’t it? Don’t worry, it’ll be much more fun in real life. In the second part of the course, you’ll become true artists. You will work through your idea until you reach a finished product. All of which, I cannot wait to see. I’m sure you guys are going to come up with some great pieces of art.”

Steve picked up a marker and moved to the white board.

“The objectives of this year are to _create_ ,” he said as he wrote, “ _Present_ , _respond_ , and _connect_. Now, before you all fall asleep, let’s have fun. Yeah? I wanna see what you create. I’m not saying this is the genre you’ll work on all year, but I wanna see what you can do now. For the rest of the class, I want you to work on a piece - nothing too elaborate - and at the end of the year, we’re going to compare it to the rest of your portfolio. While you’re working, I’m going to come around and talk to you all individually. Let’s go.” 

The students scrambled into action. Sue found herself running a few seconds behind, too fascinated by this new version of her dad, so much more relaxed than she’d ever seen him before. Was this what he would’ve been like if he hadn’t had to fight every day of his life? It was disconcerting. 

Leaving her seat, Sue collected a sheet of paper, a pencil, and a set of markers. When she returned to her desk, a quick glance confirmed that Steve was beginning at the opposite end of the class.

Good.

That gave her more time to get what she needed onto the paper. Picking up the pencil, she began to sketch the outline. 

By the time Steve reached her, she’d finished sketching and was halfway through colouring the picture.

“Hi,” Steve smiled, and for a moment Sue froze. 

Some people wished they could meet someone for the first time again. She couldn’t say she was one of them. And not when that someone was her dad.

“Hi,” she forced out. 

“Sue, right? The late addition to the class.”

“That’s me,” Sue nodded.

“So what do we have here?”

Sue watched him out of the corner of her eye as he studied the drawing. His smile faded, and a crease appeared between his eyebrows; the same one Johnny had. Then he caught her watching him, and school his expression into something more neutral. But Sue could see the discomfort underneath. 

“I draw comics,” she explained. “These are the superheroes.”

“They don’t look very super right now.”

“They’ve won their first major battle, and they’ve gone for shwarma. The whole place is destroyed, and they’re sitting eating lunch.”

“I see,” Steve nodded slowly. “Introduce me then.”

“That’s Hawkeye, he’s an archer. He never misses.”

“Never?”

“Never,” Sue confirmed. “And that’s Black Widow. A spy, assassin, and a ballerina. Trained from a child in Russia, until she defected to the US. Next to her is the Hulk.”

“He doesn’t look like a hulk.”

“Not there. There’s a scientist. But when he gets angry he turns into giant green rage monster. The Hulk. That’s Thor.”

“As in the Norse God of thunder?”

“Exactly. They’ve just defeated his evil brother Loki, who tried to take over the world.”

“And those two?”

“They’re the leaders,” Sue explained, watching her dad carefully. “Really Captain America is the boss, but the work better together.”

“Captain America?”

“A costumed hero from the forties, who was given super soldier serum. He crashed a plane into the Arctic during World War Two, and was frozen for nearly seventy years until he was found again. And that, that’s Iron Man. Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. A billionaire businessman, who was kidnapped in Afghanistan and forced to make weapons for terrorists. Only he didn’t. He made a suit of armour, which he used to escape. Now, he fights to save the world.”

“Wow,” Steve murmured. “They feel very real.”

“They are,” Sue replied, and he looked at her funny, and she silently begged him to remember.

X

Tony closed the door and leaned back against it, exhaling slowly.

“Tony?” Natasha’s voice called.

“Oh yeah…” he mumbled.

Then she appeared at the end of the hall, and a lump appeared in his throat. Maybe it was because he was tired, because he didn’t know where he was or what was going on, and had to see Steve not know him, or maybe it was because he’d spent the day surrounded by teenagers.

Or maybe he just missed her.

Whatever the reason, he closed the distance between them and pulled her in for a hug. 

“Are you okay?” Natasha asked.

“Yeah,” he replied, relieved his voice sounded steadier than he felt. “I just missed you.”

“In one day?” she sounded amused. 

“You’re my friend,” he shrugged.

“I should hope so,” she smiled, pulling back. “Now, I believe I promised you something…”

Ah shit.

“Uh, yeah. About that.” Tony ducked out of her arms. “I had a long day. Can we… stick a pin in it for… another time? I just.” He paused. “I wanna watch crappy TV and eat greasy pizza and just… talk. We never talk anymore.”

Natasha tilted her head, obvious in her puzzlement, which felt so wrong because Natasha always, always kept everything close to her chest.

“Okay,” she replied.

Tony smiled. He leaned in to press a kiss to her temple as he passed. 

“Sweat pants are mandatory,” he called as he climbed the stairs and grinned as the sound of her laughter floated through the house. 

X

The next morning Tony woke to Natasha snoring in his ear. And despite his disappointment at still being here, in this alternative whatever it was - universe, dreamscape, nightmare - he smiled. He allowed himself a moment to pause and bury his face in her hair, breathing in the smell of her perfume which was still the same.

God, he missed her.

Then he forced himself to get out of bed, sending Sue a quick text to let her know that he was up and alive before disappearing into the bathroom to shower and shave. When he returned, Natasha was awake. He smiled, and received a funny look in return.

Okay.

Picking up his phone, he found two messages from Sue; the first, a garbled key smash designed to let him know she was alive, and the second saying _I miss you x_. Tony tried to swallow the lump in his throat and quickly replied _Miss you too kid x_. 

Natasha seemed normal at breakfast - well, normal being a relative term. She didn’t act like his Natasha, but equally, she wasn’t offering to blow him in the kitchen, so all in all, it was good. It was only when he kissed her cheek and said, “See you later,” that he saw a crack in her expression.

“Bye,” she smiled sadly.

Tony cocked his head.

“You okay?”

“I”m fine.”

“Good,” he winked.

Teaching was less intimidating today. Not that he was _afraid_ of a bunch of teenagers. Not exactly. 

Okay. Maybe he was a little afraid. 

But day two, and he’d found his rhythm. And he saw Sue several times in the corridor and ate lunch with her again, which helped. And he saw Steve, which… didn’t.

Maybe he should just avoid Steve until Sue was able to get him to remember. 

Which would’ve worked great, if he hadn’t turned around and walked straight into his chest.

“Sorry,” he apologised automatically, before realising why the chest he’d crashed into was so familiar.

“Don’t worry about it,” Steve smiled. “I don’t think we’ve met before. Steve Rogers, art department.”

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, I know,” Tony replied, still gaping at Steve. “Sorry,” he shook himself. “Tony, Tony Stark. Science. Physics. Hi.”

“Hi,” Steve repeated, looking faintly amused by Tony’s word-vomit.

“Sorry,” he apologised again. “Long day.”

“No problem. I know the feeling.”

“Mr Rogers, Dr Stark,” a familiar accented voice called and Tony spun around, and found himself staring into the face of Helmut Zemo.

He’d never met Zemo, but Tony was all too familiar with his work. It was Zemo that Ross had hired to hack into the Tower and trigger Bucky three years ago, it was Zemo who’d tracked down Bucky’s former handler and tortured the trigger words and the Winter Soldier base out of him, it was Zemo who’d found the footage of the Winter Soldier murdering Howard and Maria. Ross had used his rage and anger towards the Avengers to his own advantage, and then he’d just cut Zemo loose. Tony’d kept a close eye on him - or, at least, he’d tried to, until Zemo apparently vanished off of the face of the earth two months ago.

“Dr Zemo,” Steve nodded.

“Are you alright, Dr Stark? You look shaken,” Zemo asked, and Tony saw the spark in his eyes and swore.

He _knew_. Zemo knew. He was involved in this somehow.

Tony pasted on his best media smile, his eyes like flint as he met Zemo’s gaze steadily.

“Always."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me rambling on tumblr here: [weethreequarter](https://weethreequarter.tumblr.com)  
> 


	6. Recall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Peter is hot, Johnny is furious, and Tony loses patience.

****Sue watched Steve as he looked through her sketches, hoping for some, any flicker of recognition.

“Where is this?” he asked, raising the one of Avengers Tower.

“New York,” she replied. “Midtown Manhattan.”

“And who’s this?”

It was the one of Sam and Bucky playing pool, as she remembered them from that fateful party three years ago, before everything went to shit and her world fell apart. 

“Friends of my dad,” she explained. “Sam and Bucky?”

“Bucky?” Steve echoed, and for a moment, Sue’s heart jumped. “That’s unfortunate.”

Sue stared at him. In her mind, she could hear pops snort and say  _That’s unfortunate_. That was what he always said, whenever Bucky’s name came up. It was his thing. To hear it coming out of her dad’s mouth, here and now, it was unsettling. And hopeful. Maybe some part of him did remember. 

“Drawn any more superheroes?” Steve asked. 

Wordlessly, she handed over the most detailed sketch, the one she’d poured over the night before, of the armour in all it’s glory, positioned as though hovering in the air outside the Tower.

“Wow,” Steve murmured. “It’s beautiful.”

Sue nodded.

“Yeah. It really is.”

X

“Do you hear that?” Peter frowned, coming to a stop as they wandered through the undergrowth towards the main camp. Johnny stopped and listened. His eyes widened.

“Yes,” he replied. “What is that?”

“I don’t know. Like a generator or something?”

“Why would there be a generator operating in an abandoned military base?”

“Because it’s the beginning of hundreds of bad horror movies?” Peter suggested. 

“Tell me you have your suit,” Johnny said.

“I do not have my suit, which you know, because you watched me get dressed,” Peter poked him in the ribs. “I have my watch.”

He and Tony had modified a watch last year, turning it into a much less conspicuous webshooter that Peter could wear everyday. He never left home without it. It wasn’t the same as the full suit, but it was better than nothing. 

“Okay, what do we do?” Johnny asked.

“Be sneaky?”

Johnny stared at him.

“Have you met me?”

Peter rolled his eyes.

“Come on. Idiot.”

They crept closer to the buildings that had survived the years - not to mention to air strike a few years back, during the Hydra debacle at SHIELD - listening carefully, with every sense on high alert. For all his joking, Peter was glad to have Johnny at his back. Johnny was the one who taught him how to fight, and he’d been raised by superheroes. He might pretend otherwise, but Johnny was as good as anyone to have as backup. 

“It’s getting louder,” Johnny whispered as they dashed between the buildings.

“Yeah, over here,” Peter nodded. He led the way across the compound, until they reached the building where the noise was loudest. He frowned, then dropped to the ground. “It’s underground,” he said.

“Dad said that the original SHIELD base was underground,” Johnny replied. “Maybe it’s not the only building with secrets.”

Peter nodded. 

They circled the building until they found a door, and if they needed confirmation that something was going on, then the shiny new lock on the door was it.

“Move,” Johnny nudged Peter out of the way. “Natasha taught me how to lock pick when I was thirteen. I can do this in my sleep.”

“Okay,” Peter nodded.

“Incidentally, I can also get out of handcuffs,” Johnny added. “Just FYI.”

“Okay,” Peter swallowed, trying to not focus too much on _that_ mental image, because he was pretty sure this was not the time for a hard on. 

Johnny grinned far too innocently. Then the door swung open and they stepped inside. 

“Camera,” Peter pointed. 

“I see it.”

“Don’t worry, I got it.” Peter squeezed the button on the side of his watch and the light on the camera died. He shot Johnny a grin, and led the way down the corridor.

“You are so hot right now,” he heard Johnny mutter. 

Despite the new lock and the cameras, they didn’t meet anyone as they began their descent. The lower they went, the louder the sounds became, the electrical hum joined eventually by distant footsteps and voices. They had to jump back into the stairwell as soon as they left it, narrowly avoiding being caught by two guard in full tactical gear. Peter’s heart thumped in his throat, and he felt certain that they would hear it. 

“Too close,” Johnny muttered.

Peter nodded his agreement. 

Moving slowly, the first rooms they came to were offices, long abandoned and messy. Then came the labs. While some of them were dust covered and obviously unused, others were clean and the equipment updated. Johnny and Peter exchanged a glance. At the end of the corridor was a heavy steel door, with slivers of light escaping from the doorframe. It was probably a stupid idea, but Johnny reached out and tugged the handle anyway.

Locked.

Johnny growled quietly in frustration, but Peter was too busy looking up. He stepped back and jumped, knocking the grating above him out of the way and sliding into the vent.

“Nice,” Johnny whispered.

Peter grinned, leaning out of the vent and offering Johnny a hand, pulling him up after him. They replaced the grating and began to crawl forwards, towards the slats of light from the next grating. 

As they moved closer, they could hear voices talking. When they reached the grating, they leaned down, one on either side, and peered through. 

It was a lab. Among the lab equipment, Peter recognised incubators, of various sizes, and a ventilator. He caught Johnny’s eye, instantly worried when he saw the expression on Johnny’s face.

“It looks like the lab where I was born,” Johnny signed.

Oh shit. Oh shit, this was bad, very bad. 

Double checking the the lab-coated scientists were otherwise occupied, Peter shifted the grating and shot a web onto an unsupervised file, pulling it up slowly. He flicked through the file, and confirmed his worst fears. Wordlessly, he handed the file to Johnny, watching his face grow increasingly closed off as he read that someone was attempting to use the same science used to create Sue and Johnny. 

“This isn’t dad’s DNA,” Johnny signed. “It’s Zola.”

‘Who’s Zola?” Peter replied.

“Red Skull’s favourite scientist. He died and turned himself into a computer. And now they’re trying to make a kid using his DNA.”

“Who?”

Johnny lifted the back of the file, revealing a familiar skull-like logo: Hydra. Of course it was Hydra. When wasn’t it Hydra? Peter shook his head, peering back into the lab only to straighten up and almost hit his head on the top of the vent. The scientists had apparently finished their pow-wow, and had shifted, meaning Peter could see what they’d been gathered around.

“They’re not trying to make a kid with his DNA,” he signed furiously, then pointed through the vent. “They succeeded.”

Because lying in an incubator was a newborn baby.

Shit.

X

Tony knew he was acting weird, but he couldn’t help it. Zemo was here. Zemo, one of the orchestrators of the Avengers downfall. Zemo, without whom, Ross would’ve had to try a lot harder to break up the boyband. It could not be a coincidence. 

He found himself searching for Steve everywhere he looked how, a desperate need to make sure that he was okay, that he was safe, that Zemo wasn’t going to do… Well, he didn’t quite know what Zemo was going to do, but he was going to do something. 

And how was he even doing this? That was a damn good question, one which Tony would quite like an answer to, thank you very much. 

By the end of the day, he’d had enough. He needed to see Steve. He needed Steve to remember, and then together, they could figure this thing out. He didn’t do anything half as well as when he had Steve by his side.

“We need to talk,” Tony announced, storming into Steve’s classroom, the door slamming behind him.

“Hi Mr Stark,” Steve smiled.

“No. You don’t call me that,” Tony snapped.

“I’m sorry?”

“You don’t call me Mr Stark. Back on the helicarrier, in New York, you called me Stark. Now, you call me Tony. You call me Tony,” he repeated, emphasising every word with a jab of his finger.

Steve watched him, his expression somewhere between confused and amused, and Tony barely resisted the urge to growl in frustration. 

“You know me,” Tony said, lowered his voice in an attempt to force himself to calm down. “You’ve known me for years, Steve. We’ve fought together, we’ve lived together, and we’ve raised kids together.”

“What are you talking about?” Steve frowned.

“Sue and Johnny. Come on Steve. Remember. Please. I need you to remember.”

“Remember what?”

“That this isn’t real! None of this is real. You and me, that’s real. The past two years, it’s been awful being apart, but being with you… I love… I love you.”

“We met yesterday,” Steve retorted.

And Tony realised that it was never going to work. Telling Steve was never going to work. He was so goddamn stubborn. 

So instead Tony stepped forward, fisted his hand in Steve’s hair and yanked him down. Before Steve could ask when was happening, Tony kissed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me rambling on tumblr here: [weethreequarter](https://weethreequarter.tumblr.com)  
> 


	7. Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Johnny makes a decision, Tony gets his ass kicked, and Bucky makes a friend.

****Over the years, Tony had kissed Steve numerous times, but still heat pooled in his stomach and his pulse jumped like it was the first time, standing on the deck of the Tower, only metres away from the oblivious partygoers inside. By this point, he knew Steve’s body almost as well as his own. He knew where to push, where to nip, where to hold to get the best reaction out of Steve. And when they broke apart, and Tony saw that Steve was gasping and glassy eyed, his pupils blown and his knuckles white as he gripped Tony’s hips, Tony couldn’t help the rush of pride at his work.

“Why?” Steve panted. “Why does, why does that feel familiar?”

“Because we’ve been together for two years, Steve,” Tony explained. “In the real world. No one knows except you and me, because officially, you’re kind of a, uh, fugitive right now. There was a misunderstanding, there was political manipulation, some blackmail, all very complicated, don’t worry about it. But you and me, we’re…”

“What?”

“We’re us.”

Steve nodded slowly.

“I don’t know how, or why, but I believe you,” he replied.

Tony grinned.

X

“So what are we going to do?” Peter signed.

There was a pause before Johnny replied; he was too busy glaring daggers at the scientists below. If looks could kill, those scientists would be burnt to a crisp right about now.

Finally Johnny turned to him, his eyes sparkling with mischief and recklessness. That was the expression that usually preceded numerous bad ideas, none of which Peter could actually bring himself to regret.

“We’re going to steal the baby.”

“Of course we are,” Peter muttered.

X

Tony arrived home - and when, exactly, had he started to think of it like that? - feeling more buoyant than he had since he woke up in this nightmare. That feeling lasted precisely forty two seconds after he closed the front door, at which point he entered the kitchen and found Natasha waiting for him, with an expression of hurt and betrayal. 

“Hey Nat,” he greeted cautiously. 

It was unnerving, to see emotions play out so clearly upon her face. His Natasha would never let anyone see her emotions unless she wanted them to, and she would never allow someone to see they’d hurt her.

“I know,” she said and Tony’s heart seized. 

Had someone seen him and Steve? How? The door was close, the blinds drawn. Shit, were there cameras in the classrooms? 

“Know what?” Tony replied.

When in doubt, play dumb.

“I know,” Natasha repeated. “About you and… Jesus, Tony, if you had to cheat on me, couldn’t you at least make sure she wasn’t underage?”

Wait. 

What?

“I’m lost. I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he frowned.

“I know. About you and that senior. Sue Storm.”

“Wait, what?” Tony exclaimed. “No! That’s not, no. Absolutely not. For so many different reasons. I would never. I would never touch a kid, for a start. And Sue. Just no. No.”

“You were seen together.”

“Yeah, because she’s my kid!”

Natasha recoiled as if his words physically hurt.

“You have a daughter?”

“Yes, and you know that,” Tony cried. “You know her. And Johnny. Natasha.” He closed the distance between them, grasping her shoulders. “Nat. You know this isn’t real. None of this is real. I don’t know what it is, but it’s not real. We are not married. You are living in Hell’s Kitchen with a lawyer, and I’m in a secret relationship with Steve, okay, you didn’t know that part, but whatever. I’m not a teacher. I’m a billionaire. And you’re a spy. Were a spy. Whatever. This _isn’t_ real.”

Instead of understanding, Natasha just stared at him as though he was crazy. She was leaning away, as if trying to physically get away from him, which was crazy, because he wasn’t even holding her that tightly.

Then he thought back to kissing Steve.

_“Why does that feel familiar?”_

Tony stepped back.

“Don’t hate me,” he pleaded.

Then he grabbed her wrist and twisted it. The next thing he knew, the world was spinning, and when it stopped, he was lying on the floor, pinned down by Natasha’s knee in the middle of his chest and everything hurt. But he grinned.

Emotions flitted across Natasha’s face in quick succession, from the hard blank slate she wore when she fought, to surprise, to confusion, to fear.

“How did I know how to do that?” she whispered.

“You’re the Black Widow,” Tony told her. “You were trained to be a spy, a killer, but you defected. You joined SHIELD, and then you joined the Avengers. You became a hero. You are a hero. And you’re my friend. And friends don’t crush other friends’ sternums.”

Natasha frowned; Tony nodded to her knee on his chest.

“Oh,” she moved off of him, allowing him to sit up. 

“Do you remember?” 

“No,” she shook her head. “And yes. I remember…” She reached out, her hand hovering above where the arc reactor should be. “… stabbing you in the neck.”

“Yeah, I remember that too. Vividly,” Tony rubbed his neck. 

“I don’t understand,” she whispered.

Tony reached out and gathered her in his arms.

“Me neither.”

X

There was someone watching him.

They were hiding, so he couldn’t see them, but Bucky knew they were there. The same way that he knew this wasn’t real.

“I know you’re there,” he called, and his super soldier hearing detected the tiny gasp of surprise.

A moment later, his watcher faded into view, but Bucky would never have put money on it being a kid.

She was small, smaller than Sue or Johnny had ever been as long as he knew them, with jet black hair and bright blue eyes that almost glowed. She watched him nervously from underneath her eyelashes, moving closer one slow step at a time until she was only a metre away.

“Hi,” Bucky said. “What’s your name?”

She eyed him warily. 

Then, in a tiny voice, barely audible even to a super soldier, she whispered, “Kobik.”

“Hi Kobik. I’m Bucky.”

“How did you know I was there?”

“Because you can’t fool my mind,” he explained. “Nobody can. I have a friend, a very powerful friend, who made sure that nobody can ever trick me again. So I know when things are real. And I know this? This isn’t real. But you are.”

Kobik nodded.

“How… do you know?”

“It’s like… Like I’m in two places at once. I’m here, but I’m also in bed asleep. And I just… I just know that’s real, and this one ain’t.”

“You’re clever,” Kobik observed.

“Nah, just lucky,” Bucky smiled. “So what are you doing here?”

“I made it,” Kobik whispered.

“Made what?”

“This. Everything.”

Bucky frowned. 

 _Holy shit_. That, that was a lot of power for a kid to have. He doubted even Wanda could manage to create and sustain a world like this which, he guessed, was so full of detail that anyone else would never guess it wasn’t real. Except him. And Tony apparently. 

“You made this place?” he said. Kobik nodded. “For Rumlow?”

A hesitation, then another nod.

“Why?”

“Because he told me to.”

“Listen, Kobi, Rumlow, he’s not a good guy,” Bucky explained. “He hurts people. And I think, the reason he wants all this, is to hurt people. Me. And my friends.”

To his surprise, Kobik nodded.

“He said you deserved to be punished.”

“Yeah, I bet he did,” Bucky muttered. “You wanna know why he hates us? He hates us, because we stopped him from killing a lot of people. Because that’s what we do. We protect people from assholes like Brock Rumlow. And if you help me, I’ll protect you from him too.”

“You can’t,” she shook her head.

“Sure I can.” Bucky shrugged, “I’m an Avenger. And that’s what heroes do. Shit, I’ve been around Steve too long.”

Kobik stared at him for a long time, the silence stretching between them. Bucky felt the familiar probe at his mind, ice cold where Wanda’s touch was warm, and welcomed her in, allowed her to search through his memories while keeping control, directing her away from the things he’d rather not see, and towards the ones that would show her the truth.

The door opened, causing Kobik to jump and withdraw from Bucky’s mind sharply. Bucky winced.

“What’re you doing in here?” Rumlow grunted at Kobik. He didn’t wait for an answer, crossing to Bucky and yanking his his up by the chin. “You’re a pain in my ass, Barnes. You know what, if I can’t make you forget, torture you, then what’s the point? Maybe I’ll just kill you? Huh? What do you think? How would you like to feel every atom tearing itself apart as you disappear into nothing?”

“Beats staring at your ugly mug,” Bucky spat.

Rumlow’s fist jabbed into his stomach, winding him.

Rumlow sneered down at him.

“Kill him,” he ordered Kobik.

Horror flooded the girl’s face as she glanced between the two men. 

Bucky’s eyes bored into her, silently begging her to believe him, to believe what she saw in his mind, to help.

“Now!” Rumlow roared.

Kobik jumped.

She looked at Bucky one last time, then closed her eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me rambling on tumblr here: [weethreequarter](https://weethreequarter.tumblr.com)  
> 


	8. Ignite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Kobik is amazing, Tony is awkward, and Johnny makes things go boom.

****Bucky winced, waiting for the inevitable pain of being torn from existence.

Nothing.

Cracking one eye open, he quickly sat up when he saw Rumlow crumpled in a heap on the floor. Bucky gaped at Kobik, who seemed unable to believe what she’d just done. 

Bucky grinned.

“You star,” he breathed.

“What did I do?” she whispered.

“You did the right thing,” Bucky insisted. “Can you get me out of here?”

Kobik nodded slowly. Finally tearing her eyes from Rumlow’s unconscious form, she turned back to Bucky, then he felt the restraints fall away. Standing up, he circled his shoulders, easing out the kinks and knots. He crouched by Rumlow, relieving him of the gun and knife Bucky found tucked into his belt and boot.

“Come on,” he said to Kobik. She ran to his side; Bucky lifted her up, balancing her on his hip. “Let’s go find my friends.”

X

Okay. This was awkward. 

Part of him wanted to laugh at how absurd the entire situation was.

Another part of him was cringing, and longed to run away and just forget this was happening.

Tony forced himself to smile, but when he caught Sue’s eye, he realised that she found it just as awkward as he did. Introducing his fake wife to his real boyfriend, who was also his daughter’s biological father sounded like something out of a telenovela. How did it become his life?

(Oh yeah, children in a lab, kidnapping in Afghanistan, aliens invading New York)

“So, Natasha. This is Steve,” Tony introduced them.

Steve and Natasha nodded to each other awkwardly.

“Oh come on, you two have kissed before,” Tony cried, causing them both to rear back. "You don’t see me getting my panties in a twist over it.”

“We what?” Steve exclaimed.

“Why?” Natasha gasped.

“I’m not making this better, am I?” Tony realised.

“No,” Sue agreed. “You’re not.”

Tony exhaled.

“Okay, fine. This is supremely awkward, and we’re all uncomfortable, and it sucks, I know. But you gotta trust me. Please.”

“I trust you,” Steve replied, almost on autopilot.

“So do I,” Natasha agreed after a moment, and Tony smiled, allowing himself to relax a little.

“I think I have a lead,” he announced. “Well, an idea, anyway. And since my ideas are usually good, it’s a pretty good place to start. Back in the real world, three years ago, when the Avengers broke up-“

“And the Avengers are.. us, right?” Steve frowned.

“Like in my drawing,” Sue confirmed. “You are Captain America, pops is Iron Man, and you’re the Black Widow.”

“Exactly. As I was saying, two years when we broke up, there was a hacker involved. A good one. Lacking in finesse, more bulldozing his way through firewalls than dismantling them which is-“

“Pops.”

“I digress. Anyway, this hacker. After everything that went down, I managed to track him. His name is Zemo. He’s Sokovian.”

“Sokovian?” Natasha frowned.

“Yeah. Tiny country in Eastern Europe where we took down a Hydra base. Hydra took the battle to the people and some of them were killed, despite out best efforts. Zemo’s family was killed. Anyway, long story short, he declared eternal hatred of us, ended up getting hired by the Secretary of State who hates us to publicly destroy us, and then he was just cut loose. I lost track of him. Until yesterday, when I saw him again with you,” Tony finished, turning to Steve. “Zemo.”

“The principal?”

“That’s right,” Tony nodded. 

“I don’t know how or why, but he’s behind this. It’s the only thing that makes sense. He hates us. He wants us gone. And the three of us are the best leaders the Avengers have. Except Sif, but she’s Asgardian, so maybe this whatever it is doesn’t work on her, I don’t know. Maybe he just couldn’t get to her. Maybe Loki’s magic protects her. Whatever. The three of us all have the potential to lead the Avengers. And we’re three of the original members. That’s gotta count for something.”

“We find Zemo, we find a way out?” Natasha suggested.

“Maybe. I don’t know.”

“If we can get him to talk, even he doesn’t tell us how to get out, maybe he’ll tell us where we are,” Sue added.

“How do we get him to talk?” Steve asked.

“That’s usually Natasha’s department,” Tony replied.

“Me?”

Tony nodded.

“How?”

Before Tony could answer, the doorbell chimed loudly. They all froze, turning to stare towards the door.

X

Peter carefully removed the screws from the vent, easing his fingers under the edge of the panel, ready to shift it out of the way. The plan was half-baked and probably insane, but they were working on the fly, without back-up. And hey, crazier things had worked, right? Peter had fought his ex-girlfriend’s father and a maniac pretending to be a wizard before, so Hydra was nothing. At least, that was what he was telling himself.

He took a deep breath and waited.

He didn’t have to wait for long. 

A faint boom reverberated through the building, causing the scientists below to look up sharply. Then an alarm began to blare and they bolted for the door. The second the latch clicked shut, Peter had the vent out of the way and dropped down into the lab. He dashed across the room to the baby’s side. The infant blinked up, looking scared, but he didn’t make a sound. Peter’s heart broke. How many times had he cried out in fear, only to be ignored?

“Hi,” Peter murmured, scooping him up. He quickly fashioned a baby sling out of web fluid, checking that the baby was secure before taking his hand away. “It’s okay, I promise.”

The baby blinked up at him, and Peter wondered if this would be the moment when he began to scream, but then a tiny fist clenched in his shirt, and he forgot how to breathe.

Footsteps sounded in the corridor outside; Peter ran back across the room, shooting a web up through the open vent and yanking them upwards. He slammed the vent back in place just as the troop of guards burst into the lab, and scrambled back towards the other vent. Sticking his head out to check the coast was clear, he shot webs at the doorhandle, locking it in place, then dropped down and ran towards the door.

He was almost at the elevator, when he heard someone chasing after him, the steps getting louder and louder. Peter dug down, searching for another burst of speed, but then a hand caught his and a familiar voice yelled, “Let’s go, Pete!”

“Johnny!”

“Move it, move it, move it,” Johnny chanted, yanking him into the elevator and jabbing the exit button. “We gotta go, cause this place is gonna blow up.”

“Wait, you set a _bomb_?” Peter exclaimed. 

“What? No. I threw a bunch of chemicals together until they started hissing and smoking and then I legged it.”

“You’re insane,” Peter declared.

“Run now, insult me later,” Johnny cried, grabbing Peter’s hands again and pulling them out of the elevator the second the doors opened. 

They bolted out of the building and through the camp, back towards the gate they climbed over. Just as they reached the fence, the ground shook and boom echoed, sending a flock of crows flying into the air. Peter and Johnny ducked instinctively, Peter curling his body over the baby, and Johnny curling over Peter. They straightened up slowly, looking back in the direction they came, where the sky was lit up with a faint orange glow.

Peter turned to Johnny and found Johnny already staring at him. Then Johnny broke into a grin.

“Best first date ever,” he declared.

X

When Tony opened the door, he definitely wasn’t expecting to be facing a bevy of police officers and detectives.

“Yes?” he frowned.

“Anthony Stark?” the detective in charge asked as he stepped forward.

“Yes.”

“I need you to come with me, please.”

“Why?” Tony frowned. 

“We have a few questions for you, regarding your relationship with one of your students.”

“Wait, what? Which student?” Tony demanded, a deep feeling of foreboding settling in his stomach. 

“We’ll discuss it at the station.”

“No, you’ll tell me now.”

“A parent has made a complaint about inappropriate behaviour in regards to his daughter.”

“Sue,” Tony whispered. “I haven’t done anything and unless you have proof, I’m not going anywhere.”

Then the detective uttered five words that floored Tony: “Mr Stark, we have a warrant.”

“On what grounds?” he spluttered. 

“Security footage.”

“It’s fake.”

“Mr Stark, please step outside.”

“What’s going on?” Sue’s voice called, and Tony’s heart clenched.

“No, don’t come out here!” he yelled, but it was too late. The police officers moved forward, pulling him out of the house, ignoring his attempts to get away. “Sue, go!”

Too late.

The detective caught Sue by the elbow, and was already guiding her outside, murmuring something to her. No doubt about how she was safe now, and that Tony wouldn’t be able to hurt her for a long time. 

The last thing Tony saw as he was bundled into the police car was Sue’s horrified expression. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me rambling on tumblr here: [weethreequarter](https://weethreequarter.tumblr.com)  
> 


	9. Breakout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Sue wants her brother, Tony wants a break, and Natasha is the best fake wife ever.

****“Hey! Come on. You can’t just leave me here. I want my phone call. Or my lawyer. Or both,” Tony yelled, leaning against the bars of his cell and glaring in frustration at the empty corridor. “Come on!”

He sighed, sagging against the bars.

“I want… I want to go home.”

“Now Stark,” a voice replied, the smirk evidenced in its tone, “I did not think you would give up so easily.”

Tony head snapped up, and he found Zemo standing opposite him.

“You son of a bitch,” he breathed. “When I get out of here, I’m coming for you.”

“I look forward to it,” Zemo smiled. “After all, in here, you are not Iron Man. You have no technology. You are just a high school science teacher. You are nothing.”

The words stung, but Tony refused to give Zemo the satisfaction of seeing him flinch. Instead he squared his shoulders and turned up his glower.

“Listen, asshat. This is not my first rodeo. I’ve been held captive before, and last time? Last time didn’t go so well for my captors. I’d say ask them, but you can’t, because they’re all dead. And you didn’t just threaten me, you took my daughter, you took my boyfriend, you took my friend. You hurt my family. So believe me when I say: I’ll wait. But I will get out of here, and I will find you, and I will make you pay for what you’ve done.”

Zemo grinned.

“I look forward to.”

Then he pushed his hands in his pockets and sauntered away, throwing Tony a jaunty wave over his shoulder before his disappeared.

X

“Get your hands off of me!” Sue screamed. She lashed out, hands and feet flying as she attempted to get Dr Storm away from her. “Get off!”

“Sue, stop it!” he yelled.

“I hate you,” she hissed. “I hate you.”

“Don’t talk to me that way!”

“You’re not my father! I don’t know you! Get off of me!”

Dr Storm pushed her into the bedroom she’d slept in since arriving here. Sue tumbled to the ground, raising her head, and if looks could kill, he would be turning cold right now.

“I don’t know what he’s done to you,” Dr Storm said, his expression agonised, “But, God, I hope you wake up soon.”

“Fuck you,” she spat.

With one last sorrowful look, Dr Storm left, closing the door behind him. Sue jumped to her feet, flying across the room and yanking at the handle.

Locked.

Sue screamed. She slammed her fists against the door, wishing for her dad’s strength so she could break through the wood and escape. The door rattled, but it wouldn’t give. Because despite everything, despite the traces of the serum in her blood, at the end of the day, she wasn’t an Avenger, she wasn’t a super soldier.

She was ordinary.

Her screams turned to sobs, and she slid down the door, curling into a ball on the floor and wishing desperately for her pops or her dad or Johnny. She wanted a hug from her parents, and her brother to act like a clown because he knew it would make her laugh. 

She wanted to go home.

_Tap-tap._

Sue’s head snapped towards the window. She stared in disbelief at the face outside, wearing a lopsided grin and throwing her a wave.

“ _Bucky?_ ”

Scrambling to her feet, Sue ran to the window.

“Hey doll,” Bucky called, his voice muffled by the glass. “Need a hand?”

Sue scrabbled at the latch, but she couldn’t get the window to budge. 

“It won’t open.”

Bucky shifted his position - and seriously, how was he balancing out there? - so he could use his metal arm to push upwards on the window. It strained, then the lock snapped and the window flew upwards.

“Hey you,” Bucky grinned. “Woah!” he exclaimed as Sue threw her arms around his neck.

“Bucky.”

“Careful, honey. I don’t wanna go crashing to the ground. That’s gonna hurt. Easy, it’s okay,” he added, patting her back as all of Sue’s fear and confusion and anger became too much and she started crying into his shoulder. “It’s okay. Let’s get you outta here, and get home.”

 _Home_.

“You remember?”

“Course I do. Wand made sure that nobody can trick me. I know this isn’t real. And my new friend down there confirmed it.”

Sue peered out over his shoulder, and spotted a girl waiting anxiously below.

“I’ll explain later,” Bucky added. “You ready to get outta here?”

“Yes please.”

He wrapped her arms around his neck, and slid one arms around her waist. 

“Alright, kid. Hang on.”

X

“Come on, come on, come on. There has to be something around here I can use to make my daring escape,” Tony muttered, scanning his cell for the twenty-seventh time.

“Or you could just walk out there door.”

Tony spun around, gaping at Natasha as she unlocked the cell, the door swinging open with ease.

“I got nothing.”

Natasha smirked. 

“Like you said, the information is all still in there, I just had to know how to use it. I might not remember my real life, but I still have all the skills. And knowing I have the skills is enough to be able to use them.”

“So how did you get the key?”

“Persuasion.”

Tony grinned. 

“You are my favourite fake wife ever,” he declared, drawing her in for a hug. “Right, let’s get out of here. Wait, where’s Steve?”

X

Zemo remained unaware that there was anyone in his office until something hard and heavy slammed into the back of his head and he crumpled on the ground. Rolling onto his back, he began to laugh as he stared up into the face of one pissed off Steve Rogers.

“Zemo.”

“Mr Rogers,” Zemo grinned. “How nice of you to join us. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Steve grabbed Zemo by the front of his shirt, hauling his up and slamming him against the wall.

“I don’t know what the hell’s going on here, but you are going to send us back.”

“No, I’m not,” Zemo shook his head. “You think it’s up to me? I wanted you to suffer, but he wants you dead.”

“Who does?”

Before Zemo could answer, someone rammed into Steve’s side, sending him crashing through a window, which was an answer in itself he supposed. 

X

“Pops!”

The cry rang out as Tony and Natasha emerged from the station. Tony whirled around, racing over to Sue and pulling her into his arms.

“Sue.” Then he noticed the figure at her side. “Barnes?”

“Nat?” Bucky called.

Natasha eyed him warily.

“Who are you?”

Bucky turned to Tony, concern and hurt filling his face, and Tony felt bad for him, he really did, but they didn’t have time for the drama that was the Barnes-Romanoff romantic history.

“She doesn’t… It’s a long story,” Tony apologised. “Wait. Who’s the kid?”

“Also a long story,” Bucky shrugged. “We gotta get out of here.”

“We need to find Steve.”

“Steve’s here?”

“Yeah.”

“He went after Zemo,” Natasha added.

“I don’t know who Zemo is,” Bucky replied. “But let’s get him, and let’s get out of here.”

“And how, exactly, do you plan to do that?” Tony asked, falling into step with Bucky as they headed towards the high school.

“Remember that long story I told you about? Well, Kobik’s and I have a plan.”

Tony glanced at the girl, who peered worriedly at them from behind Bucky. Part of him - the part of him that was a father - wanted to argue that a child could not get them home, it wasn’t right or safe. 

But he wanted to go home.

“Alright. I trust you."

X

Steve rolled a few feet away from the building. His head ringing, Steve pushed himself to his feet just in time to see a man with a heavily scared face advancing from the window.

“There you are, you son of a bitch,” he spat. “I’ve been waiting for this,” he continued, drawing back his fist and slamming it into Steve’s face.

 _Rumlow_ , his brain supplied as he fell again, although Steve couldn’t say how he knew it, but he knew that this man’s name was Rumlow.

Steve barely managed to roll out of the way of Rumlow’s foot, jumping to his feet and raising his fists into a boxing stance. He parried Rumlow’s blows, until he used both arms to block a particularly vicious swing, and received a headbutt for his troubles, flying back into the wall. Steve shook himself, trying to get his vision to steady, ducking out of the way as Rumlow advanced again.

This guy just did not quit. 

Rumlow managed to get Steve pinned against the wall, then out of nowhere, he produced a knife.

“This is for dropping a building on my face,” he hissed. 

Steve just managed to slide out of the path of the knife, throwing his elbow into Rumlow’s face as he tried to yank the knife free from the wall. only, Rumlow had another knife. He ducked and blocked, until he delivered a roundhouse kick into Rumlow’s gut, which sent him flying across the ground. Steve grabbed Rumlow, hauling him onto his knees.

“You are never going to hurt my family again.”

Rumlow laughed.

“Steve!”

It was Tony. He had Sue and Natasha, and Bucky and a child. And Steve had never seen Bucky before in his life, but he knew his name and he knew he liked his coffee with cream and slept with a gun under his pillow, and Steve decided just to trust it. Until Rumlow’s cackle drew his attention back.

“When you gotta go Rogers, you gotta go,” Rumlow declared. “And you’re coming you me.”

Rumlow raised his hand, and Steve saw a button, and he knew it was a bomb, although how he didn’t know, and he knew there wasn’t enough time to get away, and the last thing he remembered was Bucky yelling ,”Kobi, now!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me rambling on tumblr here: [weethreequarter](https://weethreequarter.tumblr.com)  
> 


	10. Homecoming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the family is reunited, Tony is not ready to become a grandfather, and Clint is confused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the delay in uploading this chapter! as I explained over on Tumblr last night, I finished it at work yesterday, but the wifi is so bad that I couldn't get it uploaded. I planned to do it when I got home, but then shit kicked off in my family (I still have no idea what happened) and I had to prioritise my mental health, because I was... heading for a bad place. Thankfully, going to my Star Trek happy place helped sort things out in my head, and I'm feeling much better.

****Tony jerked awake with a gasp.

“Steve.”

He reached behind, searching for Steve. Relief surged through him when his hand found a familiar wall of muscle.

“Tony,” Steve breathed, sitting up and pulling him close.

Tony beamed. They were back. Capturing Steve’s face in his hands he drew him in for a long, desperate kiss. And, oh, how good it felt to have Steve kiss him back! 

He was home.

“Huh,” Steve frowned, when they broke apart, peering over Tony’s shoulder. Tony turned, and found Zemo and a couple of booted and suited thugs lying unconscious by the door. Keeping one hand on Steve, just incase he vanished again, Tony leaned over and grabbed his phone.

“It’s the same day,” he realised. “No time passed.”

“Do you think Bucky, Natasha…?”

“Sue.”

Tony jumped out of bed, scrambling into his abandoned clothes then, pausing to pull Steve in for one final kiss, he moved to the balcony, tapping the nano casing until the suit encased him.

“See you at home?”

“You bet,” Steve grinned.

“I’ll get Coulson to take out the trash,” Tony added, nodding at Zemo’s still unconscious form. “See you soon.”

Once he was in the air, Tony had FRIDAY send a message to Sue, telling her that he was on his way, while he called Natasha. His heart jumped into his throat as he listened to the dialling tone.

“Come on, come on, please,” he muttered.

“Tony?”

“Nat,” he breathed a sigh of relief. “You okay?”

“I’m fine. Right back where I started.”

“Thank God.”

“Is everyone else back?”

“Steve is. I’m on my way to Sue, he’s going to Bucky and then we’re meeting at the compound if you wanna join us?”

A pause, and Tony knew what she would say before she said it.

“I can’t. I’m sorry, Tony.”

“I know.”

“I’m glad everyone’s okay, but-“

“It’s okay Nat. I get it. You ever need to talk about what went down between you and Bucky, you know I’m your friend too, right?”

“I know,” he could hear her smile. “Take care, Tony.”

“You too.”

By the time Natasha hung up, Tony was touching down outside Sue’s dorm. The door banged open and then Sue was there, throwing herself into his arms. Tony buried his face in her hair, clinging to his daughter and revelling in the fact that he could hold her without anyone questioning him.

“Pops.”

“Susie. It’s okay. It’s okay honey, it’s okay.”

“Is dad-?”

“Going to get Bucky and the rest of the team and then we’ll meet him at home,” Tony finished. “You ready to go home?”

“Yes,” Sue nodded. “Definitely.”

X

“Yes!” Bucky exclaimed when he opened his eyes and knew he was where he was supposed to be. “Yes, yes, yes!”

He jumped out of bed, spinning around, until he spotted Kobik cowering in the corner. He instantly rushed across the room, scooping her up and spinning her around.

“You did it!” he exclaimed. “You wonderful, amazing little person, you did it!”

“What the hell?” Sam groaned, burrowing his face into his pillow.

Clint groaned.

“What is going on?”

Then Bucky spotted Rumlow, unconscious by the door, and he grinned at Kobik again.

“Perfect,” he repeated.

“Hey, what the fuck is Rumlow doing here?” Clint frowned. “And where’d the kid come from?”

“He’s not going to wake up, right?” Bucky asked Kobik. She shook her head, staring at Rumlow. Could she be in shock, Bucky wondered. Was it possible for a cosmic cube to go into shock? Either way, he pressed a kiss to her temple, and murmured, “You did good, kid.”

Tearing her eyes away from Rumlow, Kobik studied him, then buried her head into his neck.

And, oh. Okay. Was this what Steve felt when he held Sue or Johnny? If so, Bucky didn’t know how Steve ever managed to let them go.

 _Steve_.

Right on cue, the door opened and Steve ran in.

“Buck, you’re back!”

“Yup. All good,” he beamed. 

“Hey little one,” Steve said, tucking Kobik’s suddenly blonde hair behind her ear. “Thank you for saving us.”

She looked at him for a moment, then his in Bucky’s neck again. Steve raised his eyebrows.

Bucky shrugged.

“How hard can it be if you manage it?”

“Good for you, Buck,” Steve smiled.

“I repeat, what is going on?” Clint called.

“I’ll explain later, but right now, we need to get on the jet,” Steve replied. 

“We’re going home?” Bucky asked, stuffing his feet into his boots.

“We’re going home,” Steve confirmed.

X

When they arrived at the compound, FRIDAY announced that Steve’s quintet was just landing. Tony and Sue raced upstairs, arriving in the common room through one door as Steve appeared through the other, Bucky and his team in tow.

“Dad!” Sue exclaimed, throwing herself into Steve’s waiting arms.

“Susie,” he murmured, holding her close, properly, for the first time in three years.

Even if he’d wanted to - which he didn’t - Tony couldn’t have helped the grin that spread across his face at the sight. It was everything he’d ever wanted. The only thing that was missing was Johnny.

Releasing Sue, Steve crossed the room, pulling Tony into his arms. Tony went willingly, leaning their foreheads together, his heart singing because Steve knew him, Steve loved him.

“Nat?” Steve asked.

“All good,” Tony assured him. “Welcome home.”

“Good to be home,” Steve replied, brushing his lips against Tony’s. 

“Pops? Pops!” Johnny’s voice rang out, accompanied by the rumble of feet hat could only belong to a pair of teenagers, and Johnny and Peter burst into the room, and was that a baby in Peter’s arms. “Pops, you’re gonna believe what happened,” Johnny blurted out. “So, we went to Jersey, cause I wanted to go to- Dad?”

And this could be a problem, because as far as Tony knew, Johnny was still pretty pissed at Steve for leaving. And unlike Sue, he didn’t know the full story. Father and son stared at each other, but as Tony opened his mouth to explain everything, Johnny launched himself at Steve and declared, “I’m so glad you’re back.”

“I’m glad to be back too.”

“Why do you have a baby?” Tony asked, because he kept circling back to the baby thing, and he had a horrifying feeling that he was about to become a grandfather, and that was not something he was sure he could deal with today, not on top of everything else. “Please say it’s not yours.”

“Oh, no,” Johnny replied, releasing Steve.

“Definitely not,” Peter added. 

“We kidnapped him,” Johnny said.

“Rescued, more like,” Peter corrected.

“Yeah. rescued. From Hydra. They made him in a lab.”

“Using the DNA of some guy called Zola?”

“Yeah. And then they had him locked up like me and Sue.”

“So I stole the baby and Johnny started an explosion as a distraction.”

“It was awesome. Best first date ever.”

Tony’s head was spinning. And then, because he couldn’t think of anything better do do, he began to laugh.

“See what I’ve been dealing with for the last there years without you?” he said to Steve.

“Good job I’m back then,” Steve grinned.

“Definitely,” Tony agreed, sliding his arm around Steve’s waist. “Alright, FRIDAY, let’s wake everybody up. We’re gonna need Helen to do a check up on this baby, and somebody should cook breakfast, and I need coffee.”

He shook his head, moving towards the kitchen, until Clint called, “Can somebody _please_ tell me what the hell is going on?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Clint is confused.
> 
> Find me rambling on tumblr here: [weethreequarter](https://weethreequarter.tumblr.com)  
> 


	11. Breathe Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the family grows.

****Tony breathed.

The compound was silent. After hours of talking and shouting and laughing, Sif had finally ordered them all to bed, claiming that as the leader of the official Avengers, they all had to listen to her and no one was brave or stupid enough to argue.

One by one, they’d all shuffled off towards their rooms, old and new. Tony had directed Bucky towards a new suite, one with a second bedroom for Kobik, since it seemed like he wasn’t giving the cosmic cube child up. Tony could understand where he was coming from. After all, he’d done the exact same thing with the twins thirteen years ago. 

He was pretty sure he was supposed to feel a surge of protectiveness when he saw Johnny and Peter heading off for Johnny’s suite, hand in hand, but it never came. Johnny and Peter together was just… right. They’d held each other through the worst of times, losing their respective father and father figures, and Tony felt certain that this was it for his son. He’d found the person who made him feel invincible, the person who loved him completely and who he was. No, Tony was happy to see Johnny with Peter. 

Sue had spent the day at Steve’s side, and it warmed Tony’s heart to see them together again. Sue was the first one to accept Steve as her father; it tore Tony apart to hear her anger towards him during the past three years. Now, father and daughter were reunited.

There was no need for him to personally check all the security systems, but Tony did, because it made him feel safe. The whole family was back, with the notable exception of Natasha, and he wanted to protect them. So he checked everything was in place and working, before heading upstairs.

He wandered through the silent halls, in no hurry to get anywhere, until he came to the room where they’d put down the baby earlier in the evening. He knew before he opened the door that this was where he’d find Steve. Letting himself into the room, Tony crossed to Steve’s side, placing a hand on the small of his back.

“Hey,” he whispered.

“Hi,” Steve smiled, before turning his gaze back to the sleeping infant. “I didn’t know they could be so small.”

“Yeah,” Tony agreed, recalling the first time he saw Avery after her birth, and being unable to believe that this tiny person came from Pepper. “You want to keep him.”

It wasn’t a question. 

“Yes,” Steve nodded. “D’you think I’m crazy?”

“It would hypocritical of me if I did.”

Tony leaned up, pressing his lips to the corner of Steve’s mouth.

“If we’re keeping him, then he’s going to need a name,” he murmured.

“Any ideas?”

“I named our last two. It’s your turn. Besides, Pepper says I’m banned from naming kids after I saddled Johnny with Johnathon Spencer Lowell Stark.”

“She makes a good point,” Steve grinned. 

He contemplated the baby for several minutes, watching him twitch in his sleep, and Tony couldn’t decide if he’d rather watch Steve or the baby.

“Ian,” Steve declared.

“Ian Rogers,” Tony said, testing it out. “I like it.”

“No,” Steve shook his head. “Ian Stark-Rogers.”

Tony grinned.

“Yeah. That sounds good.” He leaned into the cot, gently rubbing his finger along Ian’s arm, and murmured, “Welcome to the family, Ian.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap! Thank you to everyone who's read, commented or left kudos on this story and the series. I'm going to take a break from this series for a while, but I might come back to it eventually, if inspiration strikes, to write more about Johnny and Peter and the FF.
> 
> I'm [weethreequarter](https://weethreequarter.tumblr.com) on Tumblr so feel free to come and chat.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me rambling on tumblr here: [weethreequarter](https://weethreequarter.tumblr.com)  
> 


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